Polly Platt

Mary Marr "Polly" Platt was an American film producer, production designer and screenwriter. She was the first woman accepted into the Art Directors Guild, in 1971. In addition to her credited work, she was known as a mentor as well as an uncredited collaborator and networker. In the case of the latter, she is credited with contributing to the success of ex-husband and director Peter Bogdanovich's early films; mentoring then first-time director and writer Cameron Crowe, and discovering actors including Cybill Shepherd, Tatum O'Neal, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and director Wes Anderson. Platt also suggested that director James L. Brooks meet artist and illustrator Matt Groening, a meeting that led to their collaboration on The Simpsons.

Early life

Platt was born Mary Marr Platt in Fort Sheridan, Illinois, on January 29, 1939, later choosing to be known as 'Polly'. Her father, John, was a colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army, while her mother, Vivian, worked in advertising; she had a brother, John. She moved to Germany at the age of six when her father presided over the Dachau Trials. Platt later returned to the US and attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now known as Carnegie Mellon University. Phillip Klein, Platt's husband of eight months in 1960, died in a car accident.

Career

Platt worked in summer stock theatre as a costume designer in New York and there met Peter Bogdanovich, whom she later married. She co-wrote with him his first movie Targets, conceiving the plot outline of a "Vietnam veteran-turned-sniper", and served as production designer on the film. She repeated the latter role on his film The Last Picture Show, having made the original suggestion to adapt Larry McMurtry's novel and having recommended Cybill Shepherd for her first film role therein. Despite the breakdown of her marriage to Bogdanovich, Platt was again production designer on What's Up, Doc? and Paper Moon. Bogdanovich commented that: "She worked on important pictures and made major contributions. She was unique. There weren't many women doing that kind of work at that time, particularly not one as well versed as she was. She knew all the departments, on a workmanlike basis, as opposed to most producers who just know things in theory." Platt became the first female member of the Art Directors Guild in 1971. She was also production designer on A Star Is Born.
She wrote the screenplay for Pretty Baby, for which she was also an associate producer, as well as Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff, and A Map of the World. She wrote the screenplay for the 1995 Academy Award-winning short film Lieberman in Love, based on a short story by W. P. Kinsella.
Platt worked extensively with James L. Brooks throughout her career. She was the executive vice president of his production company Gracie Films from 1985 to 1995. Platt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Brooks' film Terms of Endearment. She co-produced many of the films he worked on, which Gracie made, including Broadcast News, The War of the Roses and Bottle Rocket, as well as producing Say Anything... in which she also had a bit part.
Platt gave Brooks the nine-panel Life in Hell cartoon, "The Los Angeles Way of Death" by cartoonist Matt Groening. She suggested that the two meet and that Brooks produce an animated TV version of Groening's characters; the meeting spawned a series of short cartoons about the Simpson family, which aired as part of The Tracey Ullman Show and later became The Simpsons.
In 1994, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award. Brooks said that Platt "couldn't walk into a gas station and get gas without mentoring somebody. Movies are a team sport, and she made teams function. She would assume a maternal role in terms of really being there. The film was everything, and ego just didn't exist." In 2003, she appeared in the BBC documentary film Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. Platt was working on a documentary about the filmmaker Roger Corman at the time of her death. She was very involved with the Austin Film Festival up until her death, and mentored many filmmakers through her participation in the annual festival, which is geared toward screenwriting and production skill-sharing. According to her daughter, Antonia Bogdanovich, "She came every year, religiously, she was a huge supporter," of the Austin Film Festival, and Platt attended the very first festival.

Filmography

Film	Year	Producer	Production Designer	Costume Designer	Writer	Actress	Miscellaneous Crew	Art Director	Stunts	Thanks	Self	Archive Footage	-
The Other Side of the Wind	2018							art director					-
The Grand Budapest Hotel	2014									special thanks: our old friends			-
The 84th Annual Academy Awards	2012											Archival Footage	-
Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel	2011	executive producer									Self		-
The Girl in the Picture	2011	executive producer											-
The Making of Bottle Rocket	2008									special thanks	Self		-
Bean	2008									thanks			-
A West Texas Children's Story	2007	executive producer											-
Muertas	2007	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Asking for the Moon	2003						self: interviewed				self		-
The Next Picture Show	2003						self: interviewed				self		-
Women on Top: Hollywood and Power	2003						self: interviewed				self		-
A Decade Under the Influence	2003						self: interviewed				self		-
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood	2003						self: interviewed				self		-
Headliners & Legends with Matt Lauer : Brook Shields	2001						self: interviewed				self		-
E! True Hollywood Story: The O'Neals	2001						self: interviewed				self: interviewed		-
Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Power of Women in Hollywood	2000										self		-
Sugar Town	1999					Maggie							-
A Map of the World	1999				writer: screenplay								-
Dogtown	1997									the production wishes to thank			-
Getting the Goods on 'As Good As It Gets'	1997										self		-
The Evening Star	1996	producer											-
Bottle Rocket	1996	producer											-
Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right	1996										self		-
I'll Do Anything	1994	producer											-
Picture This: The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas	1991										self		-
Texasville	1990									special thanks			-
Let's Get Mom	1989	producer											-
The War of the Roses	1989	executive producer											-
Say Anything...	1989	producer				Mrs Flood							-
Big	1988									special thanks			-
Broadcast News	1987	executive producer											-
The Witches of Eastwick	1987		production designer										-
Between Two Women	1986	co-producer	production designer										-
Terms of Endearment	1983		production designer										-
The Man with Two Brains	1983		production designer										-
Young Doctors in Love	1982		production designer
Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff	1979				writer: screenplay							-	-
Lieberman in Love	1979				writer: teleplay								-
Pretty Baby	1978	associate producer			writer: screenplay/story								-
A Star Is Born	1976		production designer										-
The Bad News Bears	1976		production designer										-
Thieves Like Us	1974			costume designer									-
Paper Moon	1973		production designer	costume designer									-
The Thief Who Came to Dinner	1973		production designer	costume designer									-
What's Up, Doc?	1972		production designer	costume designer									-
The Last Picture Show	1971		design	costume designer									-
Target: Harry	1969			costume designer									-
Targets	1968		production designer	costume designer	writer: story								-
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women	1968						production coordinator						-
The Wild Angels	1966			costume designer					stunt double: Nancy Sinatra				-