Joe McGovern is an awards reporter at TheWrap, writing about actors, directors, craftspeople and trends in the annual Oscar race. He also moderates conversations with filmmakers for TheWrap’s Screening Series. Before joining TheWrap in 2020, he was a correspondent at Entertainment Weekly. He is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Joe McGovern
Experience:
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How ‘Pinocchio’ Makeup Artists Turned an Actor Into a Tuna Fish – Yes, a Tuna Fish
Director Matteo Garrone’s Italian-language adaptation also transformed a real boy into a wooden puppet
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Why ‘Mank’ Costume Designer’s Phone Was a Secret Weapon on Set (Exclusive Video)
Trish Summerville, an Oscar nomination favorite for her elaborate 1930s wardrobes in David Fincher’s film, describes the challenges of creating clothes in a black and white world
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‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ Hair and Makeup: How Viola Davis Was Inspired by Bette Davis’s Classic ‘Baby Jane’
TheWrap awards magazine: Makeup designer Sergio Lopez-Rivera and hair artist Mia Neal discuss their work with the Oscar-winner on creating a glamorous and discomforting heroine
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How ‘Nomadland’ Cinematographer Survived a Scorpion Bite and ‘The Crud’ to Shoot Oscar Favorite
TheWrap awards magazine: Joshua James Richards talks about the pain and ecstasy of filming ChloĆ© Zhao’s remarkable feature about a woman living a nomadic life in the American West
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How ‘News of the World’ Used One Movie Ranch to Create Three Different Texas Towns
TheWrap awards magazine: Production designer David Crank (“Knives Out”) talks about recreating the Wild West with Tom Hanks and a magnifying glass
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How ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Cinematographer Captured the Ending’s ‘Sheer Horror’
Sean Bobbitt tells TheWrap about shooting Fred Hampton’s murder: “You don’t want people to look away; you want them to feel the whole emotion”
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‘Emma’ Costume Designer on the Politics of Starch and Male Nudity in the Jane Austen Era
2020 Oscar contender Alexandra Byrne talks to TheWrap about the elaborate process of dressing Josh O’Connor and Johnny Flynn in the costume comedy
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How ‘Welcome to Chechnya’ Became the First Doc Ever Shortlisted for the Visual Effects Oscar
Visual effects supervisor Ryan Laney talks about using “human shields” to protect 23 LGBT subjects via VFX: “On a normal effects project, the goal is to fool the audience. That wasn’t ours.”
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How ‘Minari’ Cast Endured a ‘Not Hollywood’ Shoot With a Shared Airbnb and Broken AC
TheWrap magazine: In addition to the heat there were bugs. Lots and lots of bugs.
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Why ‘Mank’ Sound Designer Booked an Empty Movie Theater to Make the Film ‘Sound Old’ (Exclusive Video)
In a video featurette, sound supervisor Ren Klyce explains how David Fincher insisted on a hissing, crackling audiotrack for his 1940s era film
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‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Cinematographer on Why He Shot Black Panther and FBI Scenes in Different Colors
Sean Bobbitt (’12 Years a Slave’) also tells TheWrap he lobbied to shoot the historical drama starring Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield in black and white
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How ‘Minari’ Star Yeri Han Came to Sing the Lullaby-Like Closing Tune (Video)
TheWrap Awards magazine: Composer Emile Mosseri praises the actress’ “beautiful, poetic vocal performance”
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Director of French Oscar Entry ‘Two of Us’ on Finding an Ending ‘Between Tragic and Happy’
TheWrap magazine: Filippo Meneghetti, whose film has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award, talks about the making of his tender gay romance
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‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ Cinematographer on Chadwick Boseman: ‘I Cried as We Were Filming His Performance’
Tobias Schliessler, veteran cinematographer of “Dreamgirls” and “Beauty and the Beast,” tells TheWrap about working with the late actor
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‘Nomadland’: How Frances McDormand Got Amazon to Agree to Shooting in a Real Warehouse
“It fell right into our color palette,” cinematographer Joshua James Richards says














