In the heart of Beverly Hills, where Oscar night glitz often masks the soul-crushing machinery of the studio system, filmmaker Jonathan Baker turned his annual Oscar Viewing Party into something far more personal—and powerful. At the legendary Baker Manor (once the stomping grounds of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening), Baker spotlighted the late, great Donald Sutherland, whose presence looms large in Baker’s upcoming documentary Standing on the Shoulders of Fate.
Before the statuettes were even handed out, Baker, alongside French Riviera Film Festival co-founder Nicole Muj, presented a special Icon Award in honor of Sutherland. Accepting on the icon’s behalf was Zaib Shaikh, the Consul General of Canada in Los Angeles—a fitting tribute to one of the most revered Canadian exports to ever grace the screen.
Sutherland was originally slated to play the pivotal role of Theodore in FATE, Baker’s upcoming narrative feature. The doc Standing on the Shoulders of Fate chronicles the wild behind-the-scenes journey of making that film—a process that spanned years and included major names like Nicolas Cage, Andrew McCarthy, Faye Dunaway, and Harvey Keitel. But the heart of it all? That was supposed to be Donald. After working closely with Baker for eight months, the legendary actor was forced to bow out due to injury just a week before cameras rolled. The heartbreak was real.
“Sutherland’s loss…shifted the emotional tectonics of the entire production.”
“Donald worked with me for eight months,” Baker shared during the ceremony. “The importance of his playing the role of Theodore was paramount to FATE. We were heartbroken when he hurt himself a week before we started filming. I will forever be grateful for Donald and the constant professional platform he stood on, which he brought to the script.”
Sutherland’s loss was more than a scheduling nightmare—it shifted the emotional tectonics of the entire production. Yet his energy, commitment, and character remained a guiding force throughout the shoot. Standing on the Shoulders of Fate is both a love letter and a battle cry—a documentary not just about a movie but about what it means to create when fate itself throws you off course.
This wasn’t some red-carpet ego trip or overpriced PR stunt. It was a night of reverence, remembrance, and real indie filmmaking grit—everything the big studios wouldn’t know if it hit them with a boom mic.
