Tayo Amos’s love of filmmaking has little to do with getting in front of the camera herself. The payoffs for her are moments like the one in Encina Hall last fall where she sat in darkness as some 30 people watched a screening of her documentary on London’s Nigerian community. “That feeling of just sitting in an audience watching what you made is something I carry with me,” she says.
This Sunday, though, the Stanford senior will be anything but an anonymous member of the audience. She is one of six aspiring filmmakers chosen from nearly 2,000 applicants to play a role at the Academy Awards—handing Oscars to presenters and escorting winners off the stage.
The show’s organizers debuted the Team Oscar contest last year, ending the tradition of using comely female models to transport the trophies. Far better, and less sexist, to open the opportunity to up-and-comers with a love for film, they said.
Amos was among the 1,100 hopefuls that first year who applied with videos telling how they would contribute to the industry. She never got a response, but when the contest returned for this year’s awards, Amos was in the hunt again with a one-minute video about her desire to create more socially conscious movies like Fruitvale Station and Beasts of the Southern Wild.
“As an aspiring director, producer and editor, I want to be part of this movement, where real people can connect,” she said during the video, which included samples from her work. Three weeks later came the first email seeking more information.
The process culminated in early February during a Skype interview with the show’s producers, who asked how she’d feel to be onstage at the show. “I would die of happiness,” she said.
“Well, you’re one of them,” they replied, before swearing her to secrecy until Ellen DeGeneres, this year’s Academy Awards host, could announce the winners. Amos broke the promise only to tell her mom.
When she spoke with Stanford last week, Amos was not sure when she’ll be called to action or how much screen time that will entail. Possibly she’ll be a passing presence during an award like best sound editing. But she could just as well hand over the best actor award or escort actress Lupita Nyong’o, who is nominated for her role in 12 Years a Slave and is the one person Amos really has her fingers crossed about meeting.
Jennifer Brofer, a student at the University of Texas and one of last year’s winners, was onstage for five awards, including best actor, when Meryl Streep presented the Oscar to Daniel Day Lewis for Lincoln. Lewis thanked Streep and joked she was the first choice to play the fabled president, a moment that had the camera trained on Streep and Brofer laughing next to each other.
“It’s still hard to believe I was onstage with the legend herself,” Brofer said.
The weeklong trip to Hollywood isn’t only about the glitz of the awards. It’s an opportunity to make contacts in an industry that can seem so distant—especially for women and minorities.
Amos notes that yet again, there are no female nominees for best director, an award a woman has won only once. The trip offers a way to make the movie world more tangible to Amos, including introducing the contest winners to filmmakers.
A double major in Iberian & Latin American cultures, and science, technology and society, Amos is focused on getting a Fulbright to create a multimedia project capturing the effects of Spain’s staggering youth unemployment. She is also interested in grad school for film studies, with the dream of being a director.
But in the days leading up to the Oscars, Amos had more immediate concerns to deal with, like putting in overtime to make up for the week of classes she’s missing and finding time for hated morning workouts. “Get Up!” says a handwritten message taped to her EAST house wall. “You know you want to be in shape in time for the Oscars!”
At least she doesn’t have to stress about what to wear. Amos and her fellow winners will get the full star treatment from the show’s costume department. The results might be fleeting on your TV screen this weekend, but the impact will last much longer for Amos.
Watch Amos's Team Oscar video entry.
