Races dawn in earnest
Jerry Pam got about two hours’ sleep Monday -- the long, dark night of the Hollywood publicist’s soul. As the 30-year press representative for actor Michael Caine, he couldn’t stop thinking, “Do I have to go out and kill myself if he doesn’t get a nomination?”
Fortunately, Caine received a best actor Oscar nomination for “The Quiet American,” and Pam’s life goes on. At 6 a.m. Tuesday, he stood in the lobby of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Beverly Hills headquarters, in tweed sport coat and red check shirt, accepting congratulations from colleagues both elated and glum as they rushed out into the still dark morning to begin the next and final round of the 75th Oscar season.
At least three months in the planning, the nomination ceremony was over in four minutes, altering lives of those who thereafter could always claim the honor of being an Oscar nominee and unleashing a chain reaction of ad campaigns, strategy meetings, media interviews and fashion advice. This year, the academy issued credentials for Tuesday’s predawn announcement ceremony to 500 people, including 400 journalists and scores of studio and personal publicists, along with dozens of staffers to scan arrivals for weaponry and serve them French toast, fresh fruit and Bloody Marys.
Publicists worry whether their clients win or lose. Some bring a lucky rabbit’s foot or coin. “I have my lucky spot,” said publicist Michelle Robertson, who represents the film “Far From Heaven.” The film received four nominations, including best actress for Julianne Moore, so the spot’s magic endures.
Even so, anticipation and stress were under control on the surface. “It’s electrifying in here, isn’t it, Molly?” E! host Todd Newton quipped to a colleague in his pre-show banter. As they cut for a break, executive producer Antonio Ruiz said, “If you use that word one more time, I’ll kill you.” Newton shrugged. “Hey, I’m tap-dancing through 90 minutes here!”
This year, the academy turned down 100 media outlets for space reasons, rejecting those who had the smallest audience. The network morning shows, CNN, the BBC and E! aired the nominations live.
Despite the cloud of impending war with Iraq, some early news shows led with the Oscar nominations (although local early morning news here led with the rain).
Ever since the nominations were broadcast live in 1987 -- and moved to the early hours in order to get the extra P.R. bang of live coverage on the morning news shows on the East Coast -- they have become increasingly sober, sophisticated and slick. The academy is so serious about the event that the building went into lockdown at 9 p.m. Monday when PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, delivered the names of the nominees selected by their professional peers. The show was choreographed down to the minute by the academy, which held two rehearsals.
The publicists and journalists reacted with only polite “hmms” and claps of approval as AMPAS President Frank Pierson and Marisa Tomei announced nominees in 10 of the 24 categories. Christopher Walken’s and Paul Newman’s nominations brought murmurs of surprise; Queen Latifah’s drew claps.
After the announcements, however, the publicists rushed to tables set up outside the theater to grab press packets with the full nominations organized by media types: A for anybody, B for those who don’t need photos, and C for print media who need photos.
Although many studio executives and potential nominees had clearly been watching the show at home, publicists at the academy building reached for their cell phones to spread the more detailed news.
“It’s amazing!” Miramax publicist Lisa Taback, on her knees before a larger-than-life golden replica of an Oscar statuette, gasped into her cell phone, adding up the number of nominations for the studio.
But the publicists’ work at the academy’s headquarters wasn’t over quite yet. Studio representatives of nominated films then headed downstairs, across the lobby and up elevators to the academy offices for a random lottery to determine who could use the top-notch Goldwyn theater for official screenings and on which days. “Saturday is better for animated family movies. Some people think, do I want to go right after the movie that’s really hot so I can get some spillover?” said Robertson.
Then most headed back to their offices to meet ad deadlines, arrange interviews and embark on a new round of decisions. Where should they best spend money and time to effect a win? Should they bring an actor back to town? If there are no nominations, should they pull the movie from theaters?
Caine’s publicist Pam said his client was as relieved as he was. “He was somewhat depressed he didn’t get a SAG nomination. My job now is to decide how to do the last bit of what we didn’t get around to before. We’re going to be selective now.”
Before Tuesday, Pam had already lined up Caine for “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on March 11. “You have to anticipate. You know everybody’s fighting for the same thing. Besides, we could always cancel.”