Right now, Kimberly Steward is one for one. Manchester by the Sea, the first narrative feature film she's ever produced, was a Sundance standout this year, and — for any young producer in Hollywood — that's a pretty good record. For a Black woman producer, it's practically unheard of. But she saw something when she first picked up the script for Manchester that made her want to help bring it to screen, so she helped Matt Damon Casey Affleck , and director Kenneth Lonergan make it happen. That turned out to be a fortuitous move, and the proof is in the Oscar buzz.You can recognize a true New England movie when you see it. On screen, the region has become notorious for Boston gangsters or genius janitors , but Lonergan's film is without much in the way of theatrics. It's a movie about death that's more concerned with mundane details of what happens after the fact: Namely, after Lee Chandler's (Affleck) older brother dies, he is tasked with the guardianship of his teenage nephew, as well as with making all the arrangements for life without his brother.There's something broken about Lee's silence and the way he shuffles around the city like a ghost. He had a happy life in the town once, but a tragedy burned it down. Now, he wants to be tender, but he's not sure how — and he's not convinced that he deserves another chance. That's first thing I noticed about Manchester when I saw it: the brutality embedded in the way men engage with one another that belies a hidden vulnerability.Manchester by the Sea got it exactly right. We spoke with Steward about the movie's success — and how Hollywood can help support women working behind the lens."It was awesome. That familiarity helped us. It's hard getting through a film, especially a film in Massachusetts in the middle of the winter [laughs]. We read the script in December and got on the ground in February. Those pre-standing relationships were helpful."I was able to establish my own individual relationships with each one of them. Matt walked alongside of us as a producing partner. Casey was our star, so I saw him everyday on set. With Kenny, we all wanted to make sure that we're doing everything we can to support him."