Beyond the camera
SCHMOOZING: OFTEN THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS CHARMING THE ACADEMY
For Hollywood actors and their teams seeking an Oscar, the work of promoting the film can be as exhausting as actually shooting it.
Attention plebes of the world: it hardly sounds gruelling but for stars, it means lots of smiling for cameras, posh luncheons, private film viewings and trips here and there.
Bottom line: you have got to charm the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
It can be as tiring as an election campaign. And yes, at all cost, dodge any hint of controversy.
“You just can’t sit back and let the movie do the work for you. It’s one of the necessary evils of being nominated,” said Tom Nunan, executive producer of Crash, which won an Oscar for best movie in 2006.
Indeed, one must get out there and fight for votes. And that is what actors old and new, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, vying for his first ever Oscar for his work in the Old West survival epic The
Revenant.
Movie studios have deployed an army of publicists and marketing experts tasked with fashioning ing the most exhaustive, high-impacthig strategies.
The studios spend up to $10 million per movie on making their nominees nee available at a moment’s men notice, according to VarietyV magazine. SmallerS producers haveha less money to spend, but use social media to plug their candidates.
The goal is to win over the 6 261 members of the Academy.
The most popular and easiest way to connect with them is to send a copy of the movie to their home.
Nunan recalls that with Crash, the studio Lionsgate was the first to actually send a disc of the movie to members of the academy. He called this “a game-changer.”
“People saw the movie and loved it,” he said.
But the biggest impact comes from private screenings that feature a question and answer session so members of the academy can get to know actors.
“If you have seen Birdman and liked it, and then you meet Michael Keaton and you like him, when it comes time to vote, you support him,” said Alvar Carretero de la Fuente of the PR agency JJPR, citing the film that was the big winner last year.
His company’s clients this year include the films The Martian and
Brooklyn, both nominated for best picture. A few days ago, the agency hosted a luncheon in Los Angeles for 200 academy members to chat with Matt Damon, nominated for the best actor in The Martian.
Actors who are up for a trophy tend to work hard to win over votes, although studios take no chances and pay them to lobby.
But some, such as Daniel Day-Lewis, hardly do any promotion work and win anyway. He has won three Oscars, for My left Foot (1989), There Will Be Blood (2008) and Lincoln (2013).
Actors are bending over backwards to give their movies an extra nudge toward Oscar glory. They include Eddie Redmayne, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
But DiCaprio and Brie Larson, nominated for best actress for her role in Room, are doing even more.
Lady Gaga, nominated for the best song in The Hunting Ground, is also everywhere. It is no coincidence that she sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl’s halftime show and performed a tribute to the late David Bowie at the Grammys. She was promoting herself.
You just can’t sit back and let the movie do the work for you. It’s one of the necessary evils of being nominated
Tom Nunan
Executive producer, Crash