Publicists and writers like Friedman may lament the new Academy rules prohibiting campaigning by nominees during the voting period but the exhausted nominees themselves are probably relieved.
I expect Ang Lee is now relaxing in Taiwan and studying Cleopatra's script. By the time he returns to L.A. for the Oscars, he should be ready to sit down with Pascal, Rudin and Jolie to discuss his take.
-- Fussy
From Showbiz411
What Happened to All the Talk About the Oscars? Academy Ban is Hurting Traditional Press Push
Roger Friedman
It’s January 22nd, with a little more than a month to go before the
Academy Awards. The nominations for the Oscars were announced on January
10th–12 days ago– to much fanfare after weeks of campaigning and
publicity. The build up and what comes after is supposed to fuel the
interest in the ABC telecast on February 24th–and also help the movies
and actors who were nominated.
But since January 10th, it’s been all radio silence on the subject of the Oscars. What happened? I’ll tell you: new Academy rules for this year prevent studios and producers from any more campaigning. There are no more cocktail parties, lunches, or dinners. Movies can be screened, but no food or drink can be served. All the fun involved with the Oscars– meeting the casts, chowing down, and writing about it the next day–has been elimninated.
The idea was to make it all a level playing field. There are always accusations that some studios (usually The Weinstein Company) overdo it with the socializing. And evening it out for everyone is a smart idea. But erasing all of it, for six weeks or so, is a mistake. A big one.
If this were the case in actual political campaigning, the correlation would be that prior to the conventions, you could entertain potential voters. But between the choosing of the nominees and the election–from Labor Day til November 7th or so–all talk of the candidates would cease.
The result is that no one is talking about the Academy Awards at all. And wasn’t the point of moving up the nominations announcement by a week to kick off a major marketing push? But when the Oscars finally arrive this year, there will have been a paucity of publicity surrounding the movies and the show.
You can read the rest at the site.
But since January 10th, it’s been all radio silence on the subject of the Oscars. What happened? I’ll tell you: new Academy rules for this year prevent studios and producers from any more campaigning. There are no more cocktail parties, lunches, or dinners. Movies can be screened, but no food or drink can be served. All the fun involved with the Oscars– meeting the casts, chowing down, and writing about it the next day–has been elimninated.
The idea was to make it all a level playing field. There are always accusations that some studios (usually The Weinstein Company) overdo it with the socializing. And evening it out for everyone is a smart idea. But erasing all of it, for six weeks or so, is a mistake. A big one.
If this were the case in actual political campaigning, the correlation would be that prior to the conventions, you could entertain potential voters. But between the choosing of the nominees and the election–from Labor Day til November 7th or so–all talk of the candidates would cease.
The result is that no one is talking about the Academy Awards at all. And wasn’t the point of moving up the nominations announcement by a week to kick off a major marketing push? But when the Oscars finally arrive this year, there will have been a paucity of publicity surrounding the movies and the show.
You can read the rest at the site.
