00:00Congratulations.
00:02There was a while there where it seemed that your picture was under siege.
00:07Everybody was taking pot shots at you.
00:10Was that discouraging?
00:12And did you believe in the film all along?
00:16I'll just say, yes, it was discouraging.
00:19But we always went back to the film.
00:21And when we had a bad day, we'd pop in the movie.
00:25And we were reminded that we're all really proud of this film.
00:28All of us and all of the over 500 people who helped make it.
00:34We're going to go back to 248 and then down here to 138.
00:38Hi, Brooke Obie, Shadow and Act.
00:40I'm wondering if since Donald Shirley was omitted from the thank you speech
00:44that you had anything that you wanted to say about Donald Shirley,
00:48and also I'm wondering if the controversy surrounding the storytelling
00:53and the lens through which the story was told
00:56will change the way that you tell stories in the future.
01:04You get nervous up there.
01:06Don Shirley, obviously, we all thanked him.
01:08He gave him a great thank you.
01:10If you're discussing the Don Shirley family thing, that falls on me.
01:14But Don Shirley himself told me to not speak to anyone.
01:18He told me the story that he wanted to tell.
01:20He protected his private life and all the things, other things about him.
01:24Miraculous things about him.
01:26He was an amazing man.
01:27He told me, if you're going to tell the story, you tell it from your father, me, no one else.
01:33Don't speak to anyone else.
01:34That's how you have to make it.
01:35And also he told me, don't make it till after I pass away.
01:39So I just kept my word to that man.
01:41I wish I could have reached out to Don Shirley's family.
01:44I didn't even know they really existed until after we were making the film.
01:47And we contacted his estate for music.
01:51And then the filmmakers, we invited them all to screenings and discussions.
01:55But I personally was not allowed to speak to his family per Don Shirley's wishes.
02:00I'm an Italian from New York.
02:02They call that a stand-up guy.
02:03I kept my word to the man.
02:04And that's the reason for that.
02:06So, but Don Shirley and my father together had an amazing story together
02:12and went on the road and changed each other.
02:14And I think that comes out, that's why the film is what it is.
02:17It's because of the both of them.
02:19We're going to 1.38 and then over here to 14.
02:21Hi, everyone.
02:22Liebendrio from Belgium.
02:23Congratulations.
02:25I mean, it was a very open race this year, best picture.
02:27It was very hard to say who was going to win.
02:29Did you honestly expect you could win?
02:31And how big did you think your chances were of winning?
02:34I, you know, of course we were nominated so we thought we could win.
02:40But we didn't expect it, honestly.
02:42I mean, we, I never really, honestly, I kind of block it out.
02:46It's like if I watch a football game and I need my team to score,
02:49I just leave the room and they will.
02:51If I'm watching them, they won't.
02:53So I just kind of thought about everything but winning this thing and it worked.
02:57Going to 14 and then we'll go to...
02:59I just want to say one thing.
03:00I just, these guys may or may not agree with me, but when I went, when, I'm forgetting the name of the actress who gave us the award.
03:08I don't know why.
03:09Julia Roberts.
03:10Julia Roberts.
03:11Julia Roberts.
03:12And she, she opened up the, thank you.
03:14She opened up the thing and I'm not kidding.
03:16I started to talk to my friend sitting next to me and they said, Green Book, just to let you know, were we thinking we could win?
03:23I, I kind of forgot that we could and, you know.
03:27Hey, Carrie Fisher right there.
03:29Yeah, go do your...
03:30Hi.
03:31Oh, oh, you know, did anybody notice that they cut the mic on me?
03:34Or is anybody here?
03:35They didn't.
03:36Did you hear the Carrie Fisher remark?
03:38Yeah.
03:39Great.
03:4014 and then back to 249.
03:42Hi there, Steve Futterman from CBS News on your right over here.
03:47Uh, Nick, I wanted to ask you a question.
03:49Can you talk about why you thought this movie just resonated with people?
03:54And what do you think it says about the 60s and race relations and blacks and whites sometimes occasionally coming together in that era?
04:05That's a pretty big question for me to answer.
04:09It just was an amazing story for when I was a kid.
04:11I met Dr. Shirley when I was a kid.
04:13I went to his home.
04:14I went to Carnegie Hall.
04:15I sat on the throne.
04:16I saw his beautiful African robes.
04:18And I saw the man that he was.
04:19And I saw the change in my father when he came home and over the years how he brought us up.
04:24So when he told me this story and I...
04:27Because he was so angry when he went on this trip with Dr. Shirley of what he saw and witnessed.
04:32That's what changed him.
04:33So that's what brought us up.
04:35Told us these stories.
04:36And I said, wow, I can't believe that guy.
04:38The genius that he was.
04:40The unbelievable musician that he was.
04:42The man that he was.
04:43All the things he had to go through.
04:45I couldn't believe it myself.
04:46So I just thought this is a, you know, an opposite to an odd couple movie.
04:52It had a lot of things.
04:53Mostly it dealt with the racism of that time.
04:55So I always knew I wanted to tell the story.
04:58And I spoke to my father about it.
05:01Taped him.
05:02I spoke to Dr. Shirley.
05:04Hours and hours and hours getting his blessing and telling me what I could put in and what I couldn't.
05:09And I always knew I was going to do it.
05:10So I had to wait.
05:11Luckily he lived a long life.
05:13But when I finally decided to do it, I brought Brian in to write with me.
05:17Who brought Pete in to write with me.
05:19And we, all of us, from the writing to the production to the casting, the cast, the crew,
05:25everyone knew we were telling an important story.
05:28And there's lots of ways to tell a story about that subject.
05:31This was our little story.
05:33And I think it's as valid as any.
05:35And I think it resonates with some people because it's a small story about two people.
05:40And Pete kept telling us when we were writing, we've got to keep it about the two people.
05:43It's about their relationship and how they changed each other in a time when it was crazy, obviously.
05:49So I think we brought great honor to Dr. Shirley.
05:51His name is out in the world.
05:53We brought great honor to The Green Book.
05:55People know about The Green Book.
05:56And Pete directed a magnificent film.
05:59And here we are.
06:01We're going to go to 249.
06:03I do have to wrap it up there.
06:04Right.
06:05Yeah.
06:06Richard Green, The Hill TV.
06:07And this is for you, Peter.
06:08In the back of your mind or in the front of your mind, was Viggo Mortensen's character
06:13at all related to the people who wear MAGA hats today or Donald Trump?
06:19And what is your message from the film to America in this very polarized political time?
06:25I never thought of him as a MAGA guy.
06:29It's a different era.
06:31And it's a, you know, whether he would have been one of those guys, I don't know.
06:35But he was a guy who was flawed in the beginning.
06:38And learned by being in a car with a man who was completely different from him.
06:42But they were in the car for a couple months.
06:44And they got to know each other.
06:45And they realized they had a lot more in common than they thought they did starting out this journey.
06:49And the message is talk to each other and you'll find out we all have a lot in common.
06:54And, you know, it's a hopeful message because sometimes it seems like there is no hope, but there is.
06:59All we have to do is talk and we get closer together.
07:01I know that sounds corny and like, you know, Pollyanna-ish, but it's the truth.
07:05The only way to solve problems is to talk.
07:08Thank you so much, gentlemen.
07:10Congratulations.
07:11Thank you very much.
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