Sanders left out as arbitration picks three
The producing business is producing a few headaches this awards season.
In races for the Oscars and the Producers Guild of America awards, the issue of which producers would be listed in connection with nominated pics has been an intriguing subplot.
The PGA tapped three producers Wednesday as Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year nominees for New Line’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Frances Walsh, Peter Jackson and Barrie M. Osborne made the cut, while Tim Sanders, who produced Jackson’s previous pic, “The Frighteners,” did not.
Move came a day after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences said the names of those nommed for “Rings” are “to be determined,” because its rules limit producer nominees to three per pic.
Sanders served as more of a creative producer than a line producer, exiting the project midway through its years-long journey to the screen, say those connected to “Rings.” Osborne, a Hollywood veteran whose credits include “The Matrix” and a stint as production VP at Disney, was brought on later in the process to lend his expertise to the high-stakes “Rings” effort. The film’s official Web site features photos and bios of Jackson, Walsh and Osborne, but nothing about Sanders.
This is the third Oscar race to be contested under the three-producer rule implemented after “Shakespeare in Love’s” onstage thank-fest. It is the first time a best picture nominee has had a credit scramble, though categories such as visual effects have seen many such deliberations.
“This is a credit-driven industry, so the limit causes a lot of difficulty,” said AMPAS spokesman John Pavlik. “If we allowed 15 nominees, there would be a 16th wanting to be mentioned.”
The Acad said Wednesday that it was up to New Line to trim the “Rings” list to three, contradicting New Line’s earlier assertion that it is an “Academy matter” that the Acad “is in the process of resolving.”
If the company cannot settle on a trio by next week, then the 23-member executive committee of the Acad’s producers branch would be convened, Pavlik said. The committee would arbitrate by conducting an investigation into the precise nature of each producer’s contributions to the film.
The PGA and New Line refused to say whether Sanders’ name had been submitted to the guild.
The new animated feature category also listed two nominated pics whose credits were TBD: “Monsters, Inc.” and “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.” Unlike the best pic category, toons can list only one “key creative” person, except in pics that have two “co-equal” creatives.
Pavlik said both pics had submitted two names as co-equals, but the Acad balked.
The PGA had originally announced last month that “Rings” and four other pics — “A Beautiful Mind,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Shrek” — were candidates for the Zanuck prize, along with 15 TV contenders, but without any producer names.
Appeals allowed
The PGA, which has been campaigning for tightened credit rules since 2000, subsequently determined which producers would be credited for each nominated pic or TV show and then allowed appeals of the decisions. Two such appeals were entered and one was granted, but the org did not disclose the identities of the appellants.
Other PGA-nominated producers announced Wednesday: Brian Grazer and Ron Howard for “A Beautiful Mind”; David Heyman for “Harry Potter”; Martin Brown, Baz Luhrmann and Fred Baron for “Moulin Rouge”; and Aron Warner, John H. Williams and Jeffrey Katzenberg for “Shrek.”
In the TV series categories, the number of producers listed was far more extensive, with 31 names attached to the five shows up for the Norman Felton Award in drama series and 26 names for the five shows up for the Danny Thomas Award in comedy series. The seven nominees for “Frasier” include the late David Angell, who died Sept. 11 on one of the planes hijacked by terrorists.
However, the David L. Wolper nominations for longform TV included only a dozen producers for the five shows.
The PGA also announced that Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek will serve as hosts of the PGA Awards, to be presented March 3 at the Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
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TORn staffer Berendir was watching Fox 25, on “Good Day Live” yesterday, and desperately reached for the nearest notepad as Ian McKellen got on the phone. Here are some quotes from Sir Ian’s conversation:
“I think i’ll probably celebrate tonight with a group of friend and we’ll lay down the ground rules, “no talking about the lord of the rings.”
Was everything that you have done on stage on film, and as a public advocate, how do you put this in perspective, what odes it mean to you?
“I’ve been working in the United States for a long time ever since I appeared on Broadway, I just appeared on broadway with another nominee Heather Mirren, later i’ve been allowed to be in hollywood movies, i’ve always felt a huge welcome from America. It’s a confirmation of what i’ve always knew, the brits are welcome in Hollywood, they always have been since….
“Movies are international, we’re all part of the same big family, it’s an honor, its a confirmation of friendship really.”
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New Line’s Tolkien tale tops ‘Moulin’ & ‘Mind’
Everybody was talkin’ Tolkien on Tuesday as New Line’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” nabbed 13 Oscar nominations, including best picture. Only two films have earned more (“All About Eve” and “Titanic,” with 14 each) and six other pics have whipped up a baker’s dozen.
Runners-up, with eight each, were Universal/DreamWorks’ “A Beautiful Mind” and 20th Century Fox’s “Moulin Rouge.”
Those three films will compete in the pic race against USA Films’ “Gosford Park” and Miramax’s “In the Bedroom,” which earned seven and five bids, respectively.
In general, voters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences spread the wealth: Every studio had nominations in key categories (which is rarer than one would think).
“Bedroom” marks Miramax’s 11th best film nomination in 10 years, thus beating WB’s record of 10 noms in 10 years (1955-64). “Bedroom” was also nominated for adapted script, meaning 25 noms in the writing races since 1989. With “Amelie,” the studio also chalks up its 20th foreign-language film nom in 14 years.
In terms of domestic distribs, Miramax has 15 bids, New Line has 14; Disney, Fox and Universal, nine each (U also shares in the nom for “Bridget Jones’s Diary” with Miramax and Studio Canal); USA, Sony and Warner Bros., eight apiece; MGM/UA and Paramount, two each. DreamWorks has two solo, and shares in the eight for “Mind.” Two genuine indies, Lions Gate and Newmarket, each nabbed a pair.
New Line co-chairman/co-CEO Michael Lynne said Tuesday, “Audiences have had their say all over the world, and now to have this kind of acknowledgement, across all disciplines, is a special kind of gratification.”
USA Films also has a great showing. Not yet 3 years old, the company has had at least five noms each year, with a director bid each year, and two film bids.
The five film contenders rep a wide range of genres: fantasy, drama, comedy-mystery and musical. And they offer a wide range of budgets and box office results, from pricey B.O. bonanzas to small budgets and modest (so far) grossers.
Oscar noms always offer some surprises, and this year was no exception. “Rouge” got a picture nom though director Baz Luhrmann failed to make the final five; conversely, Ridley Scott was nominated as helmer of Sony/Revolution’s “Black Hawk Down,” though his picture wasn’t cited. (In Academy history, however, there are only three years when there was a five-for-five correlation of picture and director).
Reached in Miami on Tuesday, Luhrmann was upbeat, celebrating the noms for his “Rouge” co-workers: “The most important thing about this film was to find a way to make the musical work again. That’s all that matters. The audiences discovered it and now our colleagues have celebrated it.”
As for his helming omission, he shrugged, “It’s a little disappointing, but all those five directors have done remarkable work.”
“Gosford Park” and “Amelie” did well, while Disney/Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” nabbed four noms. And there was good news for plenty of hopefuls who were far from shoo-ins, including director David Lynch, actors Renee Zellweger, Sean Penn, Ethan Hawke and Will Smith.
Drawing attention
“Monsters, Inc.,” DreamWorks’ “Shrek” and Paramount’s “Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius” will square off in one of this year’s most closely watched races: animated feature, the Acad’s first new category in 20 years. Though cel animation has been the standard for more than 60 years, it’s a sign of the times that AMPAS’ debut of the category sees nominees that are all computer animated.
The Oscar lineup clearly favored year-end releases. Last year, several multinommed films were already on DVD and VHS by the time mentions came out (“Gladiator,” “Erin Brockovich,” etc.). This year, 17 films earned multiple noms, but only four of them are on vid: “Moulin Rouge,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Memento” and “Shrek.”
Universal chairman Stacey Snider paid tribute to such colleagues as Nikki Rocco and Mark Shmuger in talking about the success of “Mind,” and saluted Scott Greenstein “at our new sister company” USA Films. And she had special praise for “Mind” helmer Ron Howard. She said the film’s subject matter, genre and period setting made it “scary. But Ron was the thing that I held onto as a security blanket; I knew that he would bring out its humanity and its universal elements.”
“Mind” marks the second consecutive pic nod for Universal/DreamWorks (after “Gladiator”), and the fourth consecutive for DreamWorks. The company has had a pic contender in each of the four full years that it’s been a distributor.
Speaking about “Rouge,” Fox chairman Tom Rothman smiled, “To say we were an underdog is an understatement. Our goal all along was to get members of the Academy to see the movie and make their minds up.” The eight noms indicate “the widespread affection for the movie across a lot of branches of the Academy. People appreciate it for its audacity and originality.”
Miramax co-chair Harvey Weinstein said of his company’s record run of film bids, “The whole streak is a credit to the Academy, because the films are so diverse, ranging from ‘Il Postino’ to ‘The English Patient’ to ‘Bedroom,’ which I think cost $2 million.”
Familiar competish
This marks the fourth consecutive faceoff between Miramax and DreamWorks. Weinstein said he and Jeffrey Katzenberg would celebrate by having dinner together Tuesday: “We’re going to make it an annual event.”
Weinstein added that “Bedroom” widens to 1,000 screens from 700 on Friday and Miramax has the film “in a number of territories overseas.” The film will broaden soon in such areas as England, Australia and Latin America
Similarly, USA chairman Greenstein noted that “Gosford Park” is on 800 screens and continues to widen. The company has been beating the drum for the pic for months. “We started screening it in September. We believed in the movie and let it speak for itself.”
This year’s derby also marks the debut of Joe Roth’s Revolution Pictures.
Pic contenders “Gosford” and “Rouge” are from original screenplays; “Mind” and “Rings” are adapted from books; and “Bedroom” is based on a short story. “Rouge” is the only one of the five that failed to get a screenplay nom. But each of the quintet has at least one acting nomination.
“Rouge” and “Rings” were filmed Down Under, “Gosford” in the U.K.; “Mind” and “Bedroom” are domestic.
“Amelie” was handed five mentions, the highest for any foreign-language film this year. Miramax’s “Iris” earned bids for actors Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent and Kate Winslet. Winslet plays the younger version of Iris Murdoch, Dench’s character. It’s deja vu for Winslet: She and Gloria Stuart similarly were nommed for playing the same character in “Titanic.”
It’s also interesting that Dench and Broadbent share most of their scenes, though she’s nominated as lead while he’s in supporting. Similarly, Jennifer Connelly is cited as supporting, though the Screen Actors Guild Awards put her in the lead race.
With $670 million globally, “Rings” is the highest-grossing pic nominee. The top-grossing films worldwide during calendar 2001 that were Oscar-eligible: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Shrek,” “Pearl Harbor,” “The Mummy Returns,” “Jurassic Park III,” “Planet of the Apes,” “Hannibal,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Rush Hour 2” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
There were three bids for “Harry,” two for “Shrek,” four for “Pearl” and one for “Bridget.” The others went home empty-handed.
Staking early lead
The film with the most noms has ended up winning the best picture prize in 18 of the last 20 years (and nine of the past 10). But, for the other four pics, there’s always hope: 1992’s “Silence of the Lambs” was not even runner-up in the nom count and it went on to win the top five prizes.
Last year, there was a heavy presence of Asians in many races, thanks to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” There were also Hispanics in key races, such as Benicio Del Toro and Javier Bardem.
This year, the actors’ roster is overwhelmingly Caucasian, but it’s the third time in Academy history that three blacks have been cited in the thesp categories. (Oscar results only reflect the state of filmmaking, particularly in Hollywood. Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, for example, reinforced their popularity in “Rush Hour 2,” but nobody was predicting Oscar noms for either one.)
As previously announced, Arthur Hiller will receive the Hersholt Humanitarian Award, while Sidney Poitier and Robert Redford will receive another honorary nod.
Awards will be presented March 24, in ceremonies hosted by Whoopi Goldberg at the new Kodak Theater at the Hollywood & Highland complex. Event, produced by Laura Ziskin, will air live on ABC.
Nominations were announced Tuesday at 5:38 a.m. PT at Academy headquarters in BevHills by Acad president Frank Pierson and last year’s supporting actress winner Marcia Gay Harden.
This year, 248 films were eligible. Films must have had a commercial run of at least seven consecutive days beginning during calendar year 2001 in L.A. County. Other categories, including docu, foreign-language, animated feature and short film, have different eligibility rules.
This year, the Acad has 5,739 voting members in 15 branches; the largest single branch is actor, 1,315; the smallest is documentarians, 110. Final ballots will be mailed Feb. 27, with polls closing March 19.
Top to bottom:
‘Lord of the Rings,’ 13
“A Beautiful Mind” 8
“Moulin Rouge” 8
“Gosford Park” 7
“Amelie” 5
“In the Bedroom” 5
“Black Hawk Down” 4
“Monsters, Inc.” 4
“Pearl Harbor” 4
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” 3
“Iris” 3
“A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” 2
“Ali” 2
“Memento” 2
“Monster’s Ball” 2
“Shrek” 2
“Training Day” 2
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‘Nominees to be determined’ until arbitration
Sharing a podium does not come naturally in Hollywood, as the producers of New Line’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” are discovering.
The company submitted four producer names to the Acad for “Lord”: Peter Jackson, Frances Walsh, Barrie M. Osborne and Tim Sanders. Due to recently tightened AMPAS rules, however, only three can be listed with the film’s best picture nomination, one of 13 the pic copped Tuesday.
In the top category, the film now carries this curious attachment: “Nominees to be determined.”
Now, the Acad’s producers’ branch will arbitrate and select three names to be formally listed as nominees. Only those three will be permitted onstage to accept the statuette, should “Lord” take home the top prize.
Even three producers could be a crowd for the long-in-development “Lord.” When it won best motion picture at last month’s inaugural AFI Awards, Osborne took up all of the film’s allotted TV time with his thank-yous, meaning New Line topper Bob Shaye got cut off just as he opened his mouth to speak.
On Tuesday, New Line offered only this official statement: “This is an Academy matter which they are in the process of resolving.”
The producer’s branch of the Academy is expected to deliver a verdict by the end of the month. An org rep — one of the few still awake after the pre-noms all nighter — was unable to shed more light on the nature of the arbitration process.
Company sources indicated that New Line didn’t want to jinx the film before the nominations were announced by trimming the producer list to three.
The new feature animation category had similar issues with name recognition. In that race, only two producers can be mentioned and appear onstage. DreamWorks opted for only one –Aron Warner. Disney and Paramount, perhaps still puzzling over the politics, struggled in “Rings”-like fashion to determine the final duo, meaning their noms also bore the caveat “nominee to be determined.”
Miramax’s 1999 best picture win for “Shakespeare in Love” — after which everyone but the Bard himself jumped onstage to give thanks –prompted a rule restricting the number of recognized producers.
Efforts by AMPAS to tighten producer credit rules have made in conjunction with similar moves by the Producers Guild of America during the past two years. The PGA launched a campaign in 2000 to limit producer credits to three per film or TV show.
“We’re very heartened by the Academy’s decision and we’re very supportive of trying to bring a semblance of order and legitimacy to the credits issue,” said PGA exec director Van Van Petten.
Several recent pics have raised eyebrows, even in credit-happy Hollywood, with their abundance of producer credits. Universal Focus’ “Caveman’s Valentine” lists 17 producers of varying types and six full producers. “Rings” has a total of 12, including a raft of name exec producers such as Bob and Harvey Weinstein.
The PGA is due to announce today the names of producers for nominated PGA features and TV shows, following a three-month internal accreditation process.
Producers excluded from the PGA’s list will be allowed to file appeals within 48 hours of the announcement.
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