With 86 films eligible for international feature, 201 for documentary feature and 207 for live-action short at the 2026 Academy Awards, the race for Oscars is extremely competitive well beyond the “big five” categories. “Don’t torture me,” laughs Aleksandr “Sasha” Molochnikov, writer-director of live-action short “Extremist.” “It was 150 just weeks ago.” As a result, contenders now frequently add A-list executive producers to help their profile.
Molochnikov attracted Ben Stiller as EP for his true story of young Russian Sasha Skochilenko, who changed supermarket price tags to anti-war messages. Initially, Molochnikov feared his “niche story about Russia” might “get less relevant because the Ukrainian war would be replaced with another, which is sort of what was happening.” Instead, his tale of what it means to speak out in Russia caught the actor and “Severance” director’s eye.
“I was struck by how immediate and honest it felt,” says Stiller. “I knew immediately I wanted to help get it in front of as many people as possible.”
Viktoria Miroshnichenko in “Extremist.”
(Sasha Skochilenko)
Another esteemed EP on the film, Odessa Rae (“Navalny”), is also an original producer of “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” One of three Palestine-set entries in the international feature category, representing Tunisia, its EPs include Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer.
“I know the movie is emotionally strong,” says writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania of the docudrama, which chronicles the final hours of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who died under Israeli fire after hours talking with Red Crescent call center operators. Her five famous EPs, she says, “loved the movie and wanted to be with us in the credits. The main idea was to take it outside the niche of being a subtitled, Arabic-speaking movie and to amplify Hind’s voice.”
Similarly, Palestinian American filmmaker Cherien Dabis sought help from Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo to ensure that Jordan’s Oscar submission, “All That’s Left of You,” would reach audiences “who are going to want to see this film and who care to see it.” Two weeks after she began filming in Palestine, the tragic events of Oct. 7, 2023, took place, leaving Dabis to flee, amid a “financial and logistical crisis.” She eventually completed the project in Cyprus, Greece and Jordan, all while playing a key onscreen role. As the time to bring on EPs arrived, she said, she needed people “who care passionately about Palestine and would be on board for the right reasons. And Javier and Mark immediately came to mind.”
Bardem was “deeply moved [by the film], artistically and emotionally,” calling it “an exercise of bravery.” He feels he doesn’t “deserve” the EP title. “Then Cherien said it would be very helpful and that’s why I’m here. I couldn’t be more proud and honored.”
Shirley Chen and Daniel Zolghadri in “The Truck.”
(Gianna Badiali)
It’s not just in the realm of scripted narratives that name-brand backing helps. Tessa Thompson and her producing partner Kishori Rajan at Viva Maude came on board the documentary “Seeds,” about the challenges faced by Black generational farmers, after seeing the film at Sundance, where it was awarded the top prize.
“It embodies so many characteristics behind my motivation to launch Viva Maude,” says Thompson. “Work that creates new comps, revises our idea of how stories can be told and reframes who’s in the narrative. We were blown away by the movie’s craft and long-term commitment (Brittany Shyne, the director, took nine years to film it), and we wanted to use our platform to amplify it.”
Other films came by their supporters synchronistically. Elizabeth Rao, writer-director of live-action short “The Truck,” about a young couple trying to obtain morning-after pills in a post-Roe vs. Wade America, secured one of her professors, Spike Lee, and Joan Chen as EPs.
“Spike has been incredibly generous,” says Rao, a graduate film student at New York University. “I asked if he would be an EP [of ‘The Truck’] and he replied, ‘Is the pope Catholic?’” Chen adored the “emotional intimacy” of Rao’s work, “how honest the performances feel, and how her writing builds tension.”
Ethan Cutkosky in “Money Talks.”
(Infinity Studios)
Jacob Greenspan met “Money Talks” writer-director Tony Mucci in a festival line, caught the film and now manages him. The short is set in the third week of January 1981, the week the DeLorean sports car, of “Back to the Future” fame, was launched. As it happens, Greenspan also manages the film’s EP, and “Back to the Future” star, Christopher Lloyd. “After Christopher watched ‘Money Talks’ for the first time, I joked, ‘Not bad for a first try?’” recalls Mucci. “And he shot back, ‘Not bad for a tenth or hundredth try!’”
Lloyd adds, “It felt like I was back in 1981 New York. It’s important to support young talent in this industry, and ‘Money Talks’ feels like a classic.”
“A Friend of Dorothy” can certainly compete in the coincidence stakes. British writer-director Lee Knight worked for influential theater producer Sonia Friedman his first time on a London West End stage. The film, meanwhile, features renowned play “The Inheritance,” directed by Stephen Daldry and in which Knight’s husband, Syrus Lowe, starred. Knight asked Friedman to be an EP. “She saw the film, gave me a massive yes and said, ‘I want to be on this journey with you. You’re the real thing.’ Then she showed Stephen and he agreed to be an EP too.”
Miriam Margolyes in “A Friend of Dorothy.”
(Filthy Gorgeous Productions)
There are even actors who go all out to help get a film made, as in Charlie Polinger’s “The Plague,” starring producer Joel Edgerton (who also appears in Netflix Oscar hopeful “Train Dreams”) as a coach at a water polo camp for adolescent boys where bullying has serious consequences.
“Essentially, Joel was very moved and passionate about the script,” says Polinger. “He said, ‘I’d love to help.’ The only way a film like this gets made is with the support of someone like Joel. In the film industry, it can feel like a fairy tale when you just need that one person.”
“I realized I was willing to do whatever I could to help Charlie raise finances and get the movie made,” confirms Edgerton. “I think my instincts were right, and Charlie exceeded my expectations.”
