Beverly Hills, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In the small room of the Executive Committee, the Academy's current President, Tom Sherrac, Vice Presidents, Tom Hanks and Katherine Kennedy, and Executive Director Klebert are holding a closed-door meeting on "Mailgate."

Tom Sherak asked Klebert, "Is Life Pi's email canvassing investigation clear?" ”

Klebert said: "The source of the anonymous email is difficult to investigate, and there is no evidence that it is claimed by the crew of 'Life of Pi', but it cannot be ruled out either. ”

In the closed-door meeting, he had few scruples about speaking: "In the past few years of Oscar public relations, it is not uncommon for the award crew to anonymously canvass for votes, and the only difference between the crew of "Youth Pi" is that they were stabbed out by Ralph, the straight man of steel, and were targeted by the media for crazy reports. ”

Tom Hanks and Katherine Kennedy glanced at each other, something similar that they had done in the previous Olympian crew.

As we all know, there are things that can be done but cannot be said.

Tom Sherak asked, "So we can't give a clear answer right now?" Can't dispel doubts about Life of Pi? ”

"Yes." Klebert is cautious: "If we say that the crew of "Life of Pi" is innocent, and TMZ exposes the fierce news later, the academy will be very passive. ”

Katherine Kennedy said at this time: "Don't give a clear answer to the outside world for the time being, and it's not too late to wait for the situation to become a little clearer." ”

Tom Hanks agreed: "We have expressed our attitude to the public that we will seriously investigate this matter and deal with it seriously once it is confirmed. ”

Klebert is also of the same opinion, as long as the academy does not act rashly, it can always take the initiative.

Tom Scherak said to Klebert, "Your side continues to send someone to investigate. ”

He frowned slightly: "This kind of email canvassing is not the first time it has happened, and it will not be the last. ”

Tom Hanks said: "With the current Oscar PR scale, there is a huge possibility that a similar situation will arise again. ”

Katherine Kennedy nodded: "There will even be cases where other people deliberately send such emails and then expose them." ”

In fact, the email door of "Life of Pi" did not worry Tom Scherak much, even if their crew did it, and finally found a temporary person such as a production manager or public relations to come out and take the blame, and then withdraw from this Oscar.

However, as the president of the Academy, I cannot ignore the negative impact of this.

Tom Sherak feels very clearly that the atmosphere at the Oscars is getting worse and worse every year, not only in terms of public relations, but also in terms of award criteria.

"We're going to find a way to block this road." Tom Sherak doesn't want email canvassing to become the default reality: "Do you guys have any good ideas? ”

Katherine Kennedy was still thinking.

Tom Hanks said: "I have a less mature idea to make the academy go from reactive to proactive. ”

This simple-looking superstar is actually a shrewd person in the circle: "Now the academy has the email addresses of all members, and from next year onwards, it can inform all crews who are interested in participating in the Oscar competition, and all electronic materials sent to the academy members will be sent by the academy in batches, and those who send them privately will automatically lose the qualification to impact the Oscars." ”

The rest pondered.

Tom Hanks added: "The college can also charge a fee to fund the event. ”

"Good idea." Tom Scherak thinks it's feasible: "In this way, let's draw up a policy first, and then ask for advice and blow the wind after this Oscar is over." ”

The theme of the meeting was crooked, and "Life of Pi" was no longer on their list.

…………

After the 2013 New Year, the annual Oscars season has reached the crucial voting stage, and nearly 6,000 Academy members from around the world will fill out their Oscar ballots and mail them back to the Academy's designated address before late January.

Mid-January is the peak time for ballot returns.

During this period, the executive director of the academy, Klebert, was interviewed by the media, saying that the academy is still conducting an investigation and has communicated with all parties, and clear information will be released as soon as possible.

These are quite detrimental to Life of Pi and affect the voting choices of many judges.

At the same time, there have been new reports about Life Pi in many media outlets, and the reports have skewed towards the positive.

"The visual effects of "Life of Pi" are realistic, and the CG production is used to the point of fire and innocence, and the application of computer special effects in this film has been rare in recent years!"

"The main plot passages of the film, the passages of the teenager and the animals in the ocean, were all completed in front of the green screen of the studio, and generated with CGI technology, Ang Lee created a visual spectacle like "Avatar"!"

"Ang Lee's new work is full of fantasy, and no matter how vivid our comments are, they are not as shocking as the light and shadow special effects created by the director!"

"It's a very beautiful movie, with the best sound and special effects, and it's a huge visual and auditory treat."

The praise is flooding the sky, and it is faintly about to overwhelm the mail gate.

But the praise was focused on the special effects, especially the use of CGI.

Almost compares Ang Lee's new film to the animated blockbuster "Avatar".

Ang Lee and Jill Nate were momentarily shocked.

The former asked the latter: "Our propaganda budget is running out, and you have brought in funds again?" ”

Jill Nate looked confused: "This is not a propaganda advertorial you bought out of your own pocket?" ”

Li An hurriedly shook his head: "No! ”

Hearing that it was not Ang Lee's doing, Jill Nate was slightly surprised, and quickly figured out the key to it, and said: "The situation is not good, someone is calculating us, and deliberately leaning "Life of Pi" on the CGI special effects spectacle film!" ”

Ang Lee figured out the key at once: "CGI special effects strange films are naturally seriously discriminated against in the Oscar selection. ”

Most Oscar judges don't look at the candidates at all, and if they decide it's a special effects spectacle, awards like Best Director and Best Picture won't be the first choice.

Jill Nate hurriedly stood up and said: "Hurry up, release a few more announcements, and make sure to let people know that "Life of Pi" is a film with artistic connotation and philosophical thinking!" ”

The two men hurried to put out the fire again. “

…………

PricewaterhouseCoopers, Los Angeles.

In the past 20 years, the Academy of Film Academy's Oscar votes have been counted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the Academy mails out the ballots to its members, and after the subordinate members fill out the ballots, they send it back not to the Academy, but to PricewaterhouseCoopers in Los Angeles.

For an accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers' size, Oscar's business doesn't make much money, but it can bring huge publicity and knock-on effects.

Every year during the Hollywood awards season, PwC will set up a special Oscar affairs office, except for the mobilization of elite cadres, unrelated business personnel are not allowed to enter the office.

Although less than half a month has passed since the New Year, many Oscar nomination ballots have arrived in the mail, and several young accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers are working every day to make relevant statistics.

is not very old, is in Los Angeles, and is doing entertainment industry-related work, several people will inevitably gossip.

The work at hand was not too busy, Southgate said while typing on the keyboard: "Have you noticed that after the mailgate broke out, among the tickets in the mail, there were obviously fewer tickets for "Life of Pi"? ”

"Didn't you?" Greenwood was responsible for counting the sub-categories: "Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, and the number of votes for this film is not small." ”

Foden, who sat across from him, said: "There are basically no tickets for the acting awards. ”

Southgate said: "There are also very few tickets for Best Picture and Best Director. ”

Greenwood immediately understood what was going on: "Emailgate influenced the judges and made them not want to choose Life of Pi for an important award. ”

Southgate, who is not counting votes for the first year, agreed: "That's right, emailgate is holding back, I don't know if 'Life of Pi' will be nominated for Best Director and Best Picture." ”

Foden continued: "There is certainly no hope at the acting awards. ”

The office door opened, a colleague brought in the latest mailed ballot, and several people in the room began to work in an assembly line again.

Southgate counted the votes he had just received, handed them over to another person for review, and said: "I remember that "Life of Pi" has a good professional reputation and audience reputation, the quality of the film is excellent, and Ang Lee is also a veteran of the Olympics. ”

Foden casually asked, "Messed up by Mailgate?" ”

"It's not over." Greenwood took over: "Based on my statistics, it's not difficult to get a few nominations for sub-categories. ”

Southgay clicked the save button: "It's the same as the acting award on my side, this film is not a show." ”

Greenwood was puzzled: "Harvey Weinstein, who tossed Oscar into a smoky miasma, went to prison to pick up soap, why is Oscar's PR more intense and ...... than when he was there?" Well, unsightly. ”

Foden shrugged: "Hell, maybe someone has learned the essence of Harvey and taken it a step further." ”

…………

Disney Studios, the studio where the "La La Land" crew was located.

The actor Martin and the heroine Saoirse Ronan walked hand in hand on the set, and the two turned around at the same time and smiled at the camera, and the romantic love scene was like a fairy tale.

Director Damien Chazelle stood up and shouted: "Stop! It's over! I announce that the filming phase of "La La Land" is complete! ”

Everyone on the set breathed a sigh of relief, and the filming that lasted for more than two months was torture for everyone in the later stage.

Because of the involvement of 48 locations in Los Angeles and a large number of on-location singing and dancing shots, the shooting was much slower than planned, and even the shooting cost increased by $5 million.

Saoirse opened her arms and hugged Martin and said, "Teacher, I hope to cooperate with you in the future." ”

Martin smiled: "There should be a chance." ”

That night, the crew held a grand party, which was both a treat for all the personnel and a form of publicity.

(End of chapter)