Super-Producer Christine Vachon Might Be the Year’s Most Overdue Oscar Nominee

When actors Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid read the nominations for this year’s Academy Awards live in January, thousands of cinephiles and creators waited with bated breath to hear their names called. And among those names was one of Hollywood’s most vaunted: Christine Vachon, co-founder of the influential independent studio Killer Films. Vachon has made a name for herself over the last 30 years as a producer, helping steer filmmakers like Todd Haynes, Todd Solondz, and Janicza Bravo toward greatness. The projects she’s had a hand in over the years make for an impressive, diverse crop: Kids, Boys Don’t Cry, Still Alice, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch are among the most acclaimed works she and Killer Films have produced over the years.

Vachon is no stranger to the awards circuit, thanks to her enviable rolodex. But this is the first time that she herself was nominated for an Oscar, as a producer on Past Lives. To those who (rightly!) think that films she produced like Carol, Far From Heaven, and First Reformed merited consideration in the Best Picture races, this may come as a surprise. But then, fans of directors like Haynes and Paul Schrader are probably used to the concept of “snubs.”

Whether Vachon believes in the “snub” concept is a different story—but she certainly believes that an Oscar nod is an exciting thing, especially for a film as remarkable as Past Lives. Vachon spoke to The Daily Beast’s Obsessed from the Killer Films office in New York, not long after hearing her name called on live TV, about how it feels to finally be an Oscar nominee; why other Killer movies like May December have had a harder time breaking into awards season; and whether the persistent discourse surrounding those who weren’t nominated this year has much merit.

Read more at The Daily Beast.