\n<\/p>\n
Last month, Kyle Buchanan was seated at a table at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., when, midway through the ceremony, a chant erupted outside.<\/p>\n
Mr. Buchanan could hear the chant \u2014 \u201cFree Palestine\u201d \u2014 humming in the background of acceptance speeches. He exited the tent to find two protesters behind a barricade, playing the recorded chant over a bullhorn, and began filming them with his phone. Security guards soon yelled at him for filming and threatened to oust him from the premises.<\/p>\n
Such is a day<\/a> in the life of Mr. Buchanan, a pop culture reporter for The New York Times. As The Projectionist columnist<\/a>, he covers Hollywood awards shows and the cultural moments unfolding both onstage and off.<\/p>\n Since joining The Times in 2018, Mr. Buchanan has reported from film festivals at Cannes, France<\/a>, and Venice<\/a>; profiled buzzy actors like Emma Stone<\/a> and Da\u2019Vine Joy Randolph<\/a>; and covered more than 50 awards ceremonies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His love of awards shows developed out of a childhood fascination. \u201cGrowing up, I was a kid with parents who had no particular affinity for indie films, foreign films or documentaries,\u201d he said in a recent interview. \u201cThe Oscars felt like a portal into works of art that I didn\u2019t know anything about. I was entranced.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahead of the 96th Academy Awards this Sunday, Mr. Buchanan, who will be in attendance, shared his hopes for this year\u2019s ceremony and the secret to interviewing media-trained celebrities. This interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n Can you recall the first event you covered after joining The Times?<\/strong><\/p>\n The first event I went to was the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival<\/a>, which is one of the main way stations for Oscar contenders. That was where \u201cGreen Book\u201d<\/a> premiered, a film that eventually won best picture at the Oscars. That film set the tone for awards season coverage that year.<\/p>\n I think my predecessors \u2014 David Carr, Melena Ryzik and Cara Buckley \u2014 took the point of view of outsiders who parachuted into Hollywood, covering awards season as though they had landed on an alien planet. When I joined The Times, I sought to take a different approach. I wanted to tell readers why something mattered and clue them in with my insider perspective \u2014 like, why a movie that just premiered at the Toronto Film Festival could reshape an awards race. Or, the possible controversies about a film.<\/p>\n I like to present these behind-the-scenes machinations because they\u2019re fascinating and can affect the way we consume movies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n How has your coverage changed over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lately, I endeavor to give readers a sense of how actors weather monthslong Oscar campaigns. They embark upon these campaigns in the fall with a lot of excitement. It\u2019s something that a lot of them have always dreamed of being a part of, and it can advance their careers immeasurably. But the process can be exhausting.<\/p>\n During this awards season \u2014 maybe because the labor strike<\/a> kept actors out of the press for a while \u2014 actors I\u2019ve interviewed have been extremely thoughtful and candid with me.<\/p>\n