THE AWARDS EDITION 2011-2012

Continued from p33the way the votes are counted so that the votes are actuallymuch more meaningful than they used to be I think whatthe 10 pictures has actually allowed them to do is bringin more genres and styles. Yes, it’s confusing, yes, maybeit diminishes the value, but [it’s worth it] to allow a movielike The Dark Knight to enter into that category.[Then Robinov looked back to 1996, before there was a separateaward for best animated feature] To have a movie like Toy Story,which is animation, not be able to be considered … youcould argue it had some of the greatest storytelling ever. Ithink by broadening that number of pictures, it allows for abroadening of the number of great stories to be recognized.RYAN KAVANAUGH: Part of what Oscar ® is looking for is the ultimatedetermination of the best work, not necessarily the bestbox office or the person who spends the most on the awardscampaign. And adding the extra pictures gives a real shot tofilms that before just got lost. With The Fighter, we had a verysmall Oscar ® campaign; there was just no chance we wouldhave gotten nominated if there weren’t 10 slots.JEFFREY KATZENBERG: I’d like to make a proposal here that,starting next year, on MLK weekend, whatever that Sundayis, on that night should be the Golden Globes ® , thenext night the WGA, the next night PGA, next night theDGA, all the way through the week. Everybody gets theirnight, on Sunday night we have the Academy Awards ® ,and the entire awards season will be nine days long. •Continued from p31response for Academy voters to sample. Academy voters[can only vote on what they sample]. We had a long climbin to build the reputation of Hurt Locker.Even though Theron’s participation wasn’t enough to secure anomination for Young Adult, the willingness of a big star tocampaign for the film is considered crucial, and even more so forindependent companies operating on smaller budgets.Sometimes, the company can delay the release of a film to fit thestar’s schedule, as Open Road did with its well-reviewed actionfilm The Grey, which opened just a couple weeks ago, becauseLiam Neeson wasn’t available in the fall to lead a box office orOscar ® campaign effort.TOM ORTENBERG: The movie is terrific; it’s gotten very strongreviews. It’s a smart action thriller and to launch it very latein the season, I didn’t think we had time to do a campaign.Liam’s in Turkey filming Taken 2 as we speak, so all signspointed toward next year, to do a strong campaign then.Other times, that kind of delay is impossible, so Roadside Attractionshad to be creative with the stars of its contender, Margin Call,which scored an original screenplay nomination for writer/directorJ.C. Chandor. And, proving rules are meant to be broken,sometimes having only limited time from your star isn’t fatal, whichRoadside Attractions also learned with Albert Nobbs.HOWARD COHEN: We have two actors in Margin Call whomight’ve helped the film, and been nominated, but theyjust weren’t available. Kevin Spacey is around the world[starring in an Old Vic production of Shakespeare’s RichardIII]. Jeremy Irons is in Budapest. They are not here,they couldn’t even come here. Kevin Spacey came to usfor 24 hours to do the premiere in October, so we don’thave the actors. That informs the decision of how muchof an effort to put in a campaign.Glenn Close [who was subsequently nominated for bestactress for her performance in Albert Nobbs] negotiatedwith the Damages production people at FX so that shehas enough time from that show to be able to do it, butit’s difficult. The actors have to be in LA for an Oscar ®campaign to happen. It’s not always possible. •