How’d That Pig Make the Cut?

While everyone is rushing to make their Oscar predictions, twentysomething writers Kalle Matso and Scott White pause to delve into the mystery of how the coveted awards are distributed. What is the academy? Who nominates within each category? Who decides the winners in each category? And does any of this explain why “Leaving Las Vegas” got showed up by a cutesy movie about a talking pig?

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MATSO: Well, it’s that time again, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors the best of the year. And once again, I have some issues to raise. It would be easy for me to dismiss my concerns as trivial if those little statues didn’t mean so darn much. But like it or not, a lot of people buy into the idea that an Academy Award nomination is the highest standard of quality.

WHITE: Exactly, and although everyone seems to have a strong opinion about what they believe should win, most people seem to quietly accept the outcome, no matter what.

MATSO: I agree. To me, the entire process seems only slightly less scary than a GOP caucus.

WHITE: Until I researched this article, all I knew was that the academy formed sometime in the ‘20s. I figured it grew out of a lesser-known edict of the Treaty of Versailles, thrown in right after the part about not allowing Germany to rearm itself.

MATSO: Well, tell me what you found out because I have a lot of questions. Why is “Il Postino” up for best picture and not “Dead Man Walking”? Why “Babe” and not “Leaving Las Vegas”? Why do all the best actress nominees get quizzed on their attire?

WHITE: I think I can answer some of those questions for you. Key concepts to remember are demographics and marketing.

MATSO: It’s so depressing. This is all about art and you make it sound like we’re selling Amway.

WHITE: It’s just the nature of the game. The academy is made up of 5,043 voting members divided into 14 branches based on disciplines: the directors’ branch (315 members), the actors’ branch (1,278 members), and so on. It is only slightly less fractious than the Italian parliament.

MATSO: And, as I understand it, each discipline handles its own nominees.

WHITE: Right, so the directors’ branch saw the merit in “Dead Man Walking” and “Leaving Las Vegas” and nominated Tim Robbins and Mike Figgis for best director. But everyone nominates for best picture, which means that the deciding vote for “Babe” could have been cast by a Foley artist. The other thing to remember is that everyone votes on the winners, in all categories. So costume designers will be voting on the acting awards and screenwriters will be assessing the work of sound editors.

MATSO: Well, I guess the rationale is that if you’re a member of the academy, you’ve earned the right to cast ballots on subjects outside your realm of expertise. Which brings us to the next question: How do you get into the academy? I’m sure it doesn’t boil down to a multiple-choice exam.

WHITE: It goes like this: Your resume must show at least three motion pictures in which you had a major credit. You also need a reference from someone that is a member of the academy in good standing.

MATSO: You’re telling me that if he could cajole Michael Caine into writing him a letter of recommendation, Pauly Shore could be helping to choose the best original screenplay?

WHITE: It’s more selective than that. There’s an executive committee and a board of governors that screen the process. Let’s just say I’m not so sure that all the Baldwin brothers will be voting this year. Oh, here’s the best part: Once you’re in, you can stay in for life.

MATSO: You’re elected for life? No matter what? It seems like there should be some ongoing criteria for membership. At the very least, it should be pegged to your DMV record.

WHITE: You can’t put a movies-per-year quota on membership. Do you realize how many “Cannonball Run” films there would be?

MATSO: Well, this could also explain why an edgier movie like “Leaving Las Vegas” was left out of the best picture category. If it’s hard to get in and then you’re in for life, the academy must skew older and more conservative.

WHITE: That’s true, but I don’t think you can downplay the importance of marketing. If you can create enough positive buzz about a movie, you can get a nomination. Just take the example of “Il Postino.”

MATSO: I want to make it clear that I did like “Il Postino,” and I do appreciate what it’s done for football. I just don’t know that it’s better than some of the other movies that got left out.

WHITE: Allow me to continue. “Il Postino” opened in Italy two years ago to reviews that were tepid at best. Now it’s the Oscar season and the marketing acumen of those guys at Miramax is seen once again. They not only sent the members of the academy a copy of the movie, they also made a compact disc of actors and actresses reading the poetry of Pablo Neruda. You’d feel like a Philistine if you didn’t nominate this movie. Combine this with the real-life tragedy surrounding the film [the star and co-writer, Massimo Troisi, died right after the film’s completion], and you have five major Oscar nominations, including best picture.

MATSO: But everybody is using marketing gimmicks. Gramercy Pictures sent the video of “Dead Man Walking” in a case shaped like a coffin. Disney always sends their films in fancy thematic packaging. It wouldn’t surprise me if Paramount mailed out “Braveheart” with a serving of haggis.

WHITE: It seems pretty unethical. I guess the professional lobbyists will have a home in Hollywood if they’re ever run out of Washington.

MATSO: The bottom line is that the process only becomes suspect when you believe that your personal opinion isn’t reflected in the results. With “Dead Man Walking” and “Leaving Las Vegas” left out of the best picture running, I’m left clamoring about marketing and disingenuous politics. But after “Unforgiven,” a movie I loved, won in 1993, I wore a sandwich board that read, “The People Have Spoken.”

WHITE: Well, the people have spoken in 1996 too. And at least this year you know who the academy members are and who to be mad at if “Babe” corrals the Oscar for best picture.

MATSO: Yeah, not like last year when we spent the whole night crank-calling Price Waterhouse.

WHITE: Look, the bottom line is that the academy isn’t perfect. The selection process may be a bit antiquated and perhaps the influence of certain insiders is too vast. But it’s a great source of comfort to know that, in the end, the winners are decided by those who make the movies and not by those that watch Maury Povich.