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www.postmagazine.com 2 POST JAN/FEB 2024 EDITOR'S NOTE his is perhaps the most exciting time of year for the feature film community, with the 96 th Academy Awards rapidly approaching on March 10 th . I'm an avid moviegoer and try to see as many films as I can throughout the year, but still find myself trying to catch up once the nominations are announced. Luckily, Iain Blair has us covered with his annual "Oscar Picks" feature, where he looks at many of this year's contenders in the production and post production categories. Oppenheimer leads the field with 13 nominations, but Poor Things isn't far behind with 11, and there are several lesser-known films like Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall and The Holdovers that are also respectable contenders. Check out Iain's report, beginning on page 13. I had a chance to speak with several nominees too, including the creators of the two songs from Barbie that are both nominated in the Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) category. Mark Ronson took some time to discuss how he conceived "I'm Just Ken," and how it evolved from a simple ballad, initially, to an over-the-top piece that would ultimately be performed by Ken himself (Ryan Gosling). Ronson collaborated with Andrew Wyatt on the track, which features contributions from several notable musicians, including Slash from Guns N' Roses. You can learn more in this month's Bits & Pieces section, beginning on page 4. Finneas O'Connell also shared insight into his process for writing and recording "What Was I Made For?," which is performed by his sister, Billie Eilish. On page 4, he recounts recording Billie with a Telefunken mic and how the track was built around her vocals. Our cover story this issue looks at the Paramount Pictures musical Mean Girls, and how directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. took inspiration from Broadway, as well as so- cial media trends, to deliver a modern take on the 2004 hit by the same name. Shot over 39 days, the film has a dozen musical sequences that added to the pressure faced by these first- time feature directors. Partners at Harbor, FuseFX and Method Studio helped the filmmakers realize their creative vision, which ultimately led to considerable box-o¬ce success for a proj- ect that was initially planned to forgo theatrical release. Will Mean Girls become the next Barbie? It's hard to say, but it will be fun to check out this year's releases in the run up to next year's Oscars. Check out Mean Girls on page 10, and visit postmaga- zine.com for additional coverage of news from throughout the post produc- tion industry. BY MARC LOFTUS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MLOFTUS@ POSTMAGAZINE.COM T THE OSCARS RACE SEE US ON EDITORIAL MARC LOFTUS Editor-In-Chief Post Publishing, LLC 516.376.1087 mloftus@postmagazine.com KENDRA RUCZAK Managing Editor Post Publishing, LLC/CGW kruczak@cgw.com CONTRIBUTORS IAIN BLAIR Film & TV DESIGN MICHELLE VILLAS Senior Art Director michelle@moontidemedia.com ADVERTISING MARI KOHN Director of Sales Print, Digital and Awards 818.291.1153 cell 818.472.1491 mkohn@postmagazine.com WILLIAM R. RITTWAGE Sales 818.636.2835 brittwage@copcomm.com JUNIOR LOPEZ Customer Service, Circulation 818.291.1117 jlopez@copcomm.com TOMMY RITTWAGE Digital Marketing Social Media 818.291.1166 tommy@copcomm.com REPRINTS 781.255.0625 •´818.291.1153 WILLIAM R. RITTWAGE President/CEO Post Magazine is published by Post, LLC, a COP communications company. Post does not verify any claims or other information appearing in any of the advertisements contained in the publication, and cannot take any responsi- bility for any losses or other damages incurred by readers in reliance on such content. Post cannot be held responsible for the safekeeping or return of unsolicited articles, manuscripts, photographs, illustrations or other materials. Subscriptions: Address all subscription correspondence to Post Magazine, 620 West Elk Ave, Glendale, CA 91204. Subscribers December also contact customer service at 818.291.1158, or send an email to csr@postmagazine.com‰ For change of address please include the old and new address information, and if possible, include an address label from a recent issue. Subscriptions are available free to qualified individuals within the United States. Non-qualified 1 year rates: USA $63.00. Canada & Mexico $94.00. All Other Countries $133.00. Airmail Delivery is available for an additional $75.00 annually. Postmaster: Send address changes to Post Magazine, 620 W. Elk Ave., Glendale, CA 91204. Please send customer service inquiries to 620 W. Elk Ave., Glendale, CA 91204