For the Industry, Few Surprises

The handicappers had this one nailed. No upsets. No real long shots. If the favorite didn’t win, the next-most-likely one did.

Despite being forecast as one of the more open races in recent years, virtually all of Hollywood’s consensus favorites won.

Still, minutes after the Oscars ended, a handful of film executives found plenty to talk about.

One veteran studio executive said the biggest surprise was that the art-house film “Restoration” won two Oscars (for costumes and art direction).

Indeed, there were more comments from film executives after the show about the broadcast itself, and the hip turn it took under producer Quincy Jones and host Whoopi Goldberg, than about who got to take home the Oscars.

There also was relief that the evening was generally light on politics and causes, unlike past broadcasts.

Some suggested that Hollywood has grown tired of controversies, following a week in which the Oscars were under assault from the Rev. Jesse Jackson for virtually ignoring African Americans and a year in which Hollywood was under fire from every side of the political spectrum, from Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole to President Clinton.

“Ironically, this was not the year of politics at the Oscars. Maybe in a funny way it’s a backlash against this whole Dole thing. Maybe Jesse and Dole canceled each other out on the political front--enough already,” one top producer said.

Scott Kroopf, president of production at Interscope, quipped that the biggest surprise was the number by the “Stomp” dancers.

“I think anybody would tell you this year is pretty entertaining compared to the last. It’s not just the same old establishment show. There were not a lot of surprises but it’s not a sweep either,” he said.

Another surprise was the sharp tweaking of Walt Disney’s prolific merchandising by “The Birdcage” star Nathan Lane during his presentation, especially since Disney now owns ABC, the network broadcasting the event. Lane, the voice of Timon in Disney’s “The Lion King,” joked that Disney merchandising would include a “Pocahontas” pregnancy test kit and a “Hunchback of Notre Dame” backpack.

Executives interviewed after the show were most disappointed about the light showing of “Babe.”

“I wanted the little porker to win,” one Hollywood lawyer said. Still, he said, “a lot of people thought what an epic quality ‘Braveheart’ was. It’s what best pictures are all about: heroism, redemption and fight for freedom.”

Others also were surprised that “Apollo 13,” which many critics had picked along with “Braveheart” as the favorite, did not do better than its two awards.

The five Oscars “Braveheart” received are unlikely to translate much in the way of additional revenue, one executive said. Paramount Pictures opened the film domestically last summer, and the picture has already debuted on video. One studio executive said that it might get a small bump in the foreign market, where 20th Century Fox has distribution rights.

“Braveheart” became the favorite early in the evening as it started winning some of the early technical awards.

“After the third win [for “Braveheart”] it was pretty clear that ‘Apollo’ was starting to get shut out . . . all that had to happen was the fat lady was gonna sing,” an entertainment lawyer said.

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Oscars by Distributors

Studio: Oscars

* Buena Vista: 6

Paramount: 5

Universal: 3

Gramercy: 3

Sony: 2

MGM/UA: 1

* Includes Disney Co. and Miramax releases.