50 Fun Facts About CODA Movie

Who wrote and directed CODA?

Her earlier film was Tallulah; she learned ASL while writing the script.

What does the acronym CODA stand for?

Ruby is the only hearing member of her family.

Who plays Ruby Rossi?

The British actress learned ASL and took voice lessons for the better part of a year before filming.

CODA is a remake of which 2014 film?

The French original was set on a dairy farm.

In which Massachusetts town is CODA set?

Heder knew it from childhood summers on the North Shore.

What is the Rossi family business?

The French original's family ran a dairy farm instead.

Why does Ruby sign up for choir?

Mr. V then assigns her a duet with him.

Who plays the choir director Mr. V?

Heder based him on her college rhythm teacher and her high school drama and English teachers.

Where does Mr. V push Ruby to audition?

It's his alma mater.

Who plays Frank Rossi, Ruby's father?

He became the first male deaf actor to win an Oscar.

Who plays Jackie Rossi, Ruby's mother?

She was the first person cast and threatened to quit unless deaf actors played the deaf roles.

Who plays Leo, Ruby's brother, in his feature debut?

He, Kotsur and Matlin had worked together on Deaf West's Spring Awakening.

What does Frank announce at the fisheries board meeting?

He invites other local fishermen to join him.

Why are Frank and Leo intercepted by the Coast Guard?

A federal observer aboard didn't know they were deaf; Ruby was off swimming with Miles.

On what condition do Frank and Leo get their licence back?

Ruby then announces she's skipping college to join the business.

Who reacts angrily when Ruby says she'll forgo college?

He tells her she'll regret it forever and that the family can manage without her.

How does Frank experience Ruby's singing after the recital?

It's the moment he decides to drive her to Boston.

Which song does Ruby sing at her Berklee audition?

She signs it as she sings so her family in the balcony can follow.

How does Mr. V help Ruby restart her nervous audition?

She gains confidence when she spots her family in the balcony.

What single word does Frank say aloud to Ruby as she leaves for college?

She signs back 'I really love you'.

Roughly what proportion of the script is in American Sign Language?

Heder was helped by two deaf 'ASL masters', Alexandria Wailes and Anne Tomasetti.

Which director gave Heder feedback on the script?

He'd made Manchester by the Sea, set in a nearby town.

Where did Heder find the actor who plays Frank?

Matlin used her Deaf West connections to help find deaf actors.

How long did the actress playing Ruby study ASL and voice before filming?

Heder auditioned hundreds of teenage girls for the role.

Which closed building stood in for the high school in the film?

It was being converted into an arts and living complex.

Where was the Berklee audition scene filmed?

The quarry scenes were shot at Rockport's Steel Derrick quarry.

Who composed the score?

He called scoring a film with mostly deaf lead characters his biggest challenge.

What is the original song Jones sings over the end credits?

The soundtrack was released by Republic Records on the same day as the film.

At which festival did CODA premiere?

It won the US Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award and a special ensemble award there.

How much did Apple pay for the film, a festival record?

It beat Amazon Studios among others; the film's budget was $10 million.

On which service was CODA released in August 2021?

It made it the first film from a streaming service to win Best Picture.

What rating did the film initially receive before it was lowered to PG-13?

Kotsur said the issue was profanity in the ASL subtitles: 'vulgar sign language is just a part of our culture'.

How many Oscars did CODA win?

It was the seventh Best Picture winner to win every award it was nominated for.

CODA was the first Best Picture winner to have premiered where?

It was also the first winner distributed by a streaming service.

Kotsur was the second deaf performer to win an acting Oscar; who was the first?

Matlin won for Children of a Lesser God in 1986 and plays his wife here.

Who hosted the 2022 Oscars where CODA won?

It was the first hosted ceremony in three years.

Which incident overshadowed the ceremony?

Rock had joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head.

Which film led that year's nominations with twelve but won only Best Director?

Jane Campion became the third woman to win Best Director.

Which film won the most Oscars that night, with six?

CODA won three.

Which criticism did deaf viewers commonly raise about the film?

Others objected to the trope that deaf people can't enjoy music.

Which rival did Apple notably beat to CODA's distribution rights after the premiere?

The sale enraged international distributors to whom Pathé had already pre-sold the film, so it still got cinema runs in Japan, Italy and Latin America.

What is the name of Ruby's best friend, who drives her to Boston for college at the end?

She is played by Amy Forsyth. As the car pulls away, Ruby signs that she really loves her family, and Frank speaks a single word aloud.

Before CODA, the actor who plays Frank had a 2019 guest role in which Disney+ series?

He had made his film debut in The Number 23 in 2007 and his Broadway debut in a 2003 revival of Big River, signing the role of Pap while a hearing actor sang it.

CODA's writer-director wrote for the first three seasons of which Netflix series?

She also won a Peabody for Men of a Certain Age and executive produced Apple's Little America, which put her on the streamer's radar before CODA.

What was CODA's production budget, the figure Pathé pre-sold foreign rights to cover?

Apple then spent roughly the same amount again on the awards campaign that carried the film to Best Picture.

The actress who plays Ruby is the daughter of which Welsh singer and television presenter?

Her mother is a circus performer. She had already played Kinsey Locke in Netflix's Locke & Key and a young queen in Doctor Who.

The three deaf actors playing the Rossis had already worked together on which musical?

Deaf West productions pair signing and singing performers. The company is now developing a stage musical of CODA itself.

The actor who plays Frank grew up in Mesa, Arizona, where his father held what job?

His parents learned ASL when they found he was deaf at nine months old, and pushed him to play sports with the hearing kids on his street.

CODA had the fewest nominations of any Best Picture winner since which 1932 film?

It was also the first Best Picture winner since Green Book to take the top prize without a Best Director nomination.

Ruby and Miles's swimming scenes were shot at which flooded pit in Rockport?

A local fisherman who taught the director the trade also lent his trawler as a set, and the Rossi home was a real clapboard cottage found on a location scout.