- [Female Reporter] Congratulations!
- Thank you!
- [Female Reporter] There was awhile there
where it seemed that your picture was under siege.
Everybody was taking potshots at you.
Was that discouraging and did you believe
in the film all along?
- I'll just say, yes, it was discouraging,
but we always went back to the film.
And when we had a bad day, we'd pop in the movie.
And we were reminded that we're all really proud
of this film, all of us and all of the,
over 500 people who helped make it.
- [Female Organizer] We're going to go back to 248
and then down here to 138.
- [Brooke] Hi, Brooke Obie, Shadow and Act.
I'm wondering if, um, since Donald Shirley
was omitted from the thank-you speech
that you had anything that you wanted to say
about Donald Shirley.
And also I'm wondering if the controversy
surrounding the storytelling and the lens
through which the story was told will change
the way that you tell stories in the future.
- You get nervous up there.
Don Shirley, obviously, we all thanked Mahershala,
gave him a great thank-you.
If you're discussing the Don Shirley family thing,
that falls on me, but Don Shirley himself told me
to not speak to anyone.
He told me the story that he wanted to tell,
he protected his private life and all the things,
other things about him, miraculous things about him,
he was an amazing man.
He told me, if you're going to tell the story,
you tell it from your father, me, no one else,
don't speak to anyone else, that's how you have to make it.
And also he told me don't make it until after I pass away.
So I just kept my word to that man.
I wish I could have reached out to Don Shirley's family.
I didn't even know they really existed
until after we were makin' the film
and we contacted his estate for music.
And then the filmmakers, we invited them all to screenings
and discussions, but I personally was not allowed
to speak to his family per Don Shirley's wishes.
I'm an Italian from New York, they call that a standup guy.
I kept my word to the man
and that's the reason for that.
So uh, but Don Shirley and my father, together,
had an amazing story together
and went on the road to change each other
and I think that comes out,
that's why the film is what it is,
it's because of the both of them.
- [Female Organizer] We're going to 138
and then over here to 14.
- [Leuven] Hi everyone, Leuven Dreo from Belgium.
Congratulations.
Um, it was a very open race this year, Best Picture.
It was very hard to say who was going to win.
Did you honestly expect you could win
and how big did you think your chances were of winning?
- I, you know, of course we were nominated
so we thought we could win, but we didn't expect it,
honestly, I mean, we, I never really.
Honestly I kind of block it out.
It's like if I watch a football game
and I need my team to score, I just leave the room
and they will, if I'm watching them, they won't.
So I just kind of thought about everything
but winning this thing, and it worked.
- [Female Organizer] Going to 14 and then we'll--
- I just want to say one thing.
These guys may or may not agree with me,
but when uh, when I forget the name of the actress
who gave us the award, I don't know why.
Julia Roberts!
(audience laughs)
She opened up--thank you.
She opened up the thing, and I'm not kidding,
I started to talk to my friend sitting next to me.
And they said "Green Book"!
And I, just to let you know were we thinking
that we could win, I kind of forgot that we could,
and you know.
Oh, oh, you know, did anybody notice
that they cut the mic on me, or is anybody here?
They did, or did you hear the Carrie Fisher remark?
- [Audience] Yes.
- Great. (laughs)
- [Female Organizer] 14, then back to 249.
- [Steve] Hi there, Steve Futterman from CBS News.
On your right, over here.
Nick, I wanted to ask you a question.
Can you talk about why you thought this movie
just resonated with people?
And what do you think it says about the '60s
and race relations and blacks and whites sometimes,
occasionally, coming together in that era?
- That's a pretty big question.
For me to answer.
It just was an amazing story from when I was a kid.
I met Dr. Shirley when I was a kid,
I went to his home, I went to Carnegie Hall,
I sat on the throne, I saw his beautiful African robes,
and I saw the man that he was.
And I saw the change in my father
when he came home, and over the years,
how he brought us up, so when he told me the story,
because he was so angry when he went on this trip
with Dr. Shirley, what he saw, witnessed.
That's what changed him, so that's what brought us up,
told us these stories and I said,
Wow, I can't believe that guy, the genius that he was,
the unbelievable musician that he was,
the man that he was, all the things he had to go through,
I couldn't believe it myself.
I just thought, this is a, you know,
an opposites, an odd couple movie,
it had a lot of things but mostly it dealt
with the racism of that time,
so I always knew that I wanted to tell the story
and um I spoke to my father about it, taped him.
I spoke to Dr. Shirley, hours and hours and hours,
getting his blessing and telling me what I could put in
and what I couldn't.
And I always knew I was going to do it, so I had to wait.
Luckily he lived a long life, and when I finally decided
to do it, I brought Bryan in to write with me,
who brought Pete in to write with me, and uh,
we, all of us, from the writing to the production
to the casting, the cast, the crew,
everyone knew we were telling an important story.
And there's lots of ways to tell a story
about that subject, this was our little story,
and I think it's as valid as any and I think, uh,
it resonates with some people
because it's a small story about two people
And Pete kept telling us we were writing,
we got to keep it about the two people,
it's about their relationship
and how they change each other in a time
when it was crazy, obviously,
so I think we brought great honor to Dr. Shirley.
His name is out in the world.
We brought great honor to the Green Book,
people know about the Green Book.
And Pete directed a magnificent film and here we are.
- [Male Reporter] Thank you.
- [Female Organizer] We're going to go to 249
and I do have to wrap it up there.
- [Richard] Yeah, Richard Green, The Hill TV,
and this is for you, Peter.
In the back of your mind or the front of your mind,
was Viggo Mortensen's character at all related
to the people who wear MAGA hats today
or Donald Trump, and what is your message
from the film to America,
in this very polarized political time?
- I never thought of him as a MAGA guy, um.
It's a different era, and it's a,
whether he would have been one of those guys,
I don't know, but he was a guy who was flawed,
in the beginning, and learned by being in a car
with a man who was completely different from him.
But they were in a car for a couple months,
and they got to know each other,
and they realized they had a lot more in common
than they thought they did, starting out this journey,
and the message is, talk to each other
and you'll find out we all have a lot in common.
And you know it's a hopeful message
because sometimes it seems like there is no hope,
but there is, all we have to do is talk
and we get closer together.
I know that sounds corny and like, you know, Pollyanna-ish,
but it's the truth,
the only way to solves problems is to talk.
- [Female Organizer] Thank you so much, gentlemen,
and congratulations.
(audience applauds)
- Thank you very much.