Federico Fellini is shown with his wife, Italian actress Giulietta Masina, in Rome in this April 6, 1957, file photo. Masina holds the Oscar statue for best foreign film of 1957, won by „La Strada,“ which was directed by Fellini and starred Masina. Rome will pay homage to Federico Fellini this fall - the 10th anniversary of his death. Photo - TASR/AP
LOS ANGELES – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last Wednesday issued new guidelines for members aimed at curtailing brazen and often nasty campaigns waged in recent years to win the U.S. film industry‘s highest honors, the Oscars.
In an eight-page booklet, the Academy called on Oscar voters and contenders to adhere to a sense of „fair play“ and laid down a „code of behavior“ when discussing films, writing published stories, buying ads in magazines or newspapers or holding parties for nominees.
The release of the „Academy Standards“ marks the second change by the Academy to the upcoming Oscar season. It has already advanced the date for its widely watched television awards ceremony by one month to February 29 from late March.
„We realized that somehow, along the way, the whole reason for the Academy Awards has gone astray a little bit,“ said veteran movie producer Sid Ganis, who chaired a committee of some 15 Academy members who adopted the new rules. „There was a need, we felt that existed, to re-establish the reasons for the Oscars. Then, along with that, suggest what appropriate conduct might be.“
The new standards are viewed by the Academy as a set of ethical guidelines. The Academy wants members and contenders to self-police their behavior and does not set out penalties. For instance, the principles do not limit the number of ads a studio might buy to support a film. Rather, the Academy wants Oscar contenders to ask themselves if spending two or 12 times above what a more modest film in the same nominated category spends is excessive. If it is, think again.
For voting members, the Academy expressly asks that they do not write opinion pieces or advertising blurbs or anything that might be used in an ad. The Academy suggests voting members discuss their views only with close friends or in private.
Tony Angelotti, a veteran Oscar consultant in Los Angeles, said he didn‘t think campaigns had changed that much over the years, but that the behind-the-scenes action has become strikingly more visible because of media attention.
Oscar campaigning is not new, and filmmakers have used the Academy Awards as a platform to boost film box office results as well as star careers for years. Still, the campaigns have become more brazen and nasty in recent years.
The 2001 race was overshadowed by rumors that John Nash, the mathematician upon whom the film „A Beautiful Mind“ was based, was anti-Semitic. Last year‘s campaign started out rather calmly but turned bitter when it was revealed that former Academy president Robert Wise had allowed his name to be used on an opinion piece supporting nominee „Gangs of New York“ and director Martin Scorsese.
Reuters
