It's Hollywood's biggest week, Oscar week, and the excitement is building with each event that carries Tinseltown one step closer to the big day. On Wednesday, The Wrap held a star-studded affair at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills to celebrate this year's nominees.
It wasn't Zero Dark Thirty's Jessica Chastain, Silver Linings Playbook's Chris Tucker, or Wreck-It Ralph's Dennis Haysbert who ruled the red carpet. It was the directors from some of this year's Best Picture nominees who got the media in a frenzy over their appearance and SheKnows was there.
The first director to hit the red carpet was Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow. In a year with nine movies nominated for Best Picture and only five Best Director nominee slots, Bigelow was left off of the list. However, she is nominated as a producer on the film.
Despite the Best Director omission, the Oscar-winning director told SheKnows, "It's incredibly gratifying… incredibly gratifying to be recognized by your peers is extraordinary."
When asked if she learned more about her film after it was out in theaters and she was in the midst of award show season, she responded with a laugh, "Yes, but too much to answer quickly."
Following on her heels on the red carpet was nominated director Benh Zeitlin, who surprised many Oscar pundits with his nomination for his directorial feature film debut, Beasts of the Southern Wild.
He spoke about the wild ride he has been on since the film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012.
He told us, "It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. I don't know how to describe it. I'm going to the Oscars and then going back to Louisiana."
On Sunday, he is looking forward to Seth MacFarlane hosting the Oscars. Zeitlin said, "I think it's cool that a filmmaker is hosting the Oscars. I loved Ted."
Post-Oscars, fans can expect to see the director to head back to writing and "celebrate with [his] friends for eternity."
Finally, Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell made his way up the red carpet with his 18-year-old son, Matthew, and caused the biggest stir of the night. Matthew's struggle with bipolar disorder was the inspiration behind Russell taking on the challenge of Silver Linings Playbook. While he is not expected to take the Best Director Oscar home, he is the favorite to win Best Adapted Screenplay on Sunday.
Russell seemed very emotional about Oscar Week and what it means to his film.
He told SheKnows, "I'm very happy to be here in town with Robert De Niro, Bradley [Cooper], Jacki [Weaver], and Jennifer [Lawrence]. Our family…attending The Oscars. You don't want to miss this moment. You have to show up and take it in."
He did tease us with his next project, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams that was announced just this week, a love story titled The Ends of the Earth.
Russell revealed,"I believe [Jennifer] is very dialed-in to this character. She's caught in a love triangle. All actors [including Bale and Adams] are going to be doing things they've never done before. It's very exciting."
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While we have to wait for his next project to be released, SheKnows did get some Oscar wisdom from the master of awards season campaigns, Harvey Weinstein, whose film company has two movies up for Best Picture. His advice to get that nomination?
Weinstein shared, "Just get people to see your movie. They promise you they will not vote if they don't see it. We're all busy."
The one thing the master marketer does not have control over is his wardrobe. He is married to Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman.
When asked if he picks his own awards show wardrobe, he laughed, "Are you kidding? She'll pick out the suit and say you can't go looking like that [with the outfit he had picked]."
It looks like you can't control everything during Oscar season, even when you are Harvey Weinstein.
To find out how Oscar season ends, watch the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 24, on ABC.