America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 804 - 797: No Chance for Life of Pi

Beverly Hills, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In the small meeting room of the board of governors, the sitting Academy chairman Tom Sherak, vice-chairman Tom Hanks, and Catherine Kennedy, along with the executive director Calbert, were holding a closed-door meeting regarding the "email gate."

Tom Sherak asked Calbert, "Has the investigation into 'Life of Pi's email lobbying been clarified?"

Calbert replied, "It's hard to trace the source of anonymous emails, there's no evidence indicating that the 'Life of Pi' crew was involved, but we can't rule it out either."

In the closed-door meeting, he spoke with less restraint, "In the Oscar PR efforts of the past few years, it's not uncommon for award-chasing crews to send anonymous lobbying emails. The only difference with the 'Life of Pi' crew is that they were called out by the straight-shooting Ralph and then crazily reported by the media."

Tom Hanks and Catherine Kennedy exchanged looks, recalling similar incidents from their previous award-chasing crews.

As everyone knows, there are some things you can do but can't talk about.

Tom Sherak asked, "So are you saying that we can't provide a clear answer to the public now? That we can't dispel the doubts surrounding 'Life of Pi'?"

"Yes," Calbert answered cautiously, "If we say the 'Life of Pi' crew is innocent and TMZ then exposes some bombshell, the Academy would be very passive."

At this point, Catherine Kennedy suggested, "For now, it's best not to give a definitive answer publicly, let's wait until the situation becomes a bit clearer."

Tom Hanks agreed, "We've already communicated our stance to the public, we will investigate this matter seriously, and once confirmed, it will be dealt with severely."

Calbert shared the same opinion, the Academy just needs to refrain from acting rashly, then it can always maintain the initiative.

Tom Sherak spoke to Calbert, "Continue your investigation on your end."

He frowned slightly, "This kind of email lobbying is not the first time it's happened, nor will it be the last. It will be difficult for us to handle if it's exposed again in the future."

Tom Hanks said, "Given the current Oscar PR standards, the likelihood of similar incidents occurring is very high."

Catherine Kennedy nodded, "There could even be instances of someone else purposely sending such emails to get them exposed."

In reality, the 'Life of Pi' email scandal did not overly concern Tom Sherak. Even if it had been their crew's doing, they could just have a production manager or a public relations temp take the fall, then withdraw from the Oscars.

But as the Academy chairman, he had to consider the negative impact it would cause.

Tom Sherak was very clear that the atmosphere around the Oscars was getting worse year by year, and not just in PR, but including the judging standards as well.

"We need to come up with a way to block this path," Tom Sherak did not want email lobbying to become an accepted reality, "Do any of you have any good ideas?"

Catherine Kennedy was thinking.

Tom Hanks said, "I do have a somewhat immature suggestion, which could turn the passive situation into an active one for the Academy."

The seemingly simple-faced superstar was actually one of the shrewdest in the circle, "Currently the Academy has all the members' email addresses. Starting next year, we can notify all Oscar-contending crews that any electronic materials sent to Academy members must be distributed in batches by the Academy. Those who send privately will automatically lose eligibility for Oscar contention."

The others mulled it over.

Tom Hanks added, "The Academy could also charge a fee for this service, which could be used as event funds."

"Good idea," Tom Sherak thought it was viable, "Let's draft a policy guideline, and after this Oscar season ends, we can gather feedback and test the waters."

The topic of the meeting drifted, and 'Life of Pi' was no longer on their discussion agenda.

...

After the New Year 2013, it was the critical voting phase of the annual Oscar award season. Nearly 6,000 Academy members from all over the world would fill out their Oscar ballots before the end of January and mail them back to the Academy's designated address.

Mid-January was the peak time for ballot returns.

The 'Life of Pi' email scandal still had no clear outcome, during which time the Academy's executive director Calbert had been interviewed by the media, stating that the Academy was still investigating and had communicated with various parties, promising to release any definitive information as soon as possible.

These developments were quite unfavorable for 'Life of Pi', influencing the voting choices of many jurors.

At the same time, many media outlets featured new reports about 'Life of Pi', and the coverage tended to be positive.

"'Life of Pi's visual effects are realistic, and the CG production is employed to a fervent extent; the application of computer graphics in this film is rare in recent years!"

"The film's main narrative sequences, the boy and animals adrift on the ocean, were all completed in front of a green screen in the studio and generated through CGI technology, creating a visual spectacle similar to 'Avatar'!"

"This new work by Ang Lee is full of fantastical colors, and our descriptive words are not as stunning as the director's light and shadow effects!"

"This is a very beautiful film, with sound effects and visual effects both taken to the extreme, providing immense pleasure to both the eyes and ears."

Positive reviews swarmed in, nearly drowning out the email scandal.

But these praises focused primarily on the special effects, particularly the use of CGI.

They were nearly speaking of Ang Lee's new film on the same terms as the animated blockbuster "Avatar."

Ang Lee and Gil Netter were taken aback for a moment.

The former asked the latter, "Our promotional budget is almost spent, did you bring in more funding?"

Gil Netter looked completely baffled, "Isn't this the paid publicity that you bought yourself?"

Ang Lee quickly shook his head, "No!"

Hearing that it wasn't Ang Lee's doing, Gil Netter was slightly surprised, but he quickly understood the key issue and said, "This is bad, someone is plotting against us, deliberately pushing 'Life of Pi' towards the category of CGI spectacle films!"

Ang Lee immediately grasped the key point, "CGI spectacle films are naturally severely discriminated against in the Oscar selection."

Most Oscar jurors don't even bother to watch the nominated films, and once they categorize this as a special-effects spectacle, it inevitably won't be their first choice for awards like Best Director and Best Picture.

Gil Netter quickly stood up and said, "Hurry, we need to issue several more announcements to make sure people know that 'Life of Pi' is a film with artistic depth and philosophical thought!"

The two were hastily off to put out fires again.

...

PricewaterhouseCoopers, Los Angeles Branch.

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For the past twenty years or so, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscar ballots have been tallied by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The Academy mails the ballots to its members, who upon completing them, return them not to the Academy but to the PricewaterhouseCoopers office in Los Angeles.

To a firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers' magnitude, the Oscar business doesn't make much money, but it does bring significant publicity and chain effects.

Every year during Hollywood's awards season, PricewaterhouseCoopers sets up a special Oscar affairs office; aside from deploying its elite, employees unrelated to the business are not allowed into the office.

Although less than half a month had passed since the New Year, many Oscar nomination ballots had arrived, and the job of PricewaterhouseCoopers' young accountants was to do the related tallying every day.

Being young, situated in Los Angeles and working in the entertainment industry, gossip was inevitable among the few.

When work at hand wasn't too demanding, Southgate, while tapping on the keyboard, said, "Have you guys noticed that, since Emailgate broke out, the number of ballots voting for 'Life of Pi' that have come in have obviously decreased."

"Really?" Greenwood, who was responsible for counting some of the smaller categories, said, "Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, the number of votes for this film isn't few."

Foden, sitting on his other side, said, "There are hardly any votes in the acting awards."

Southgate said, "There are very few votes for Best Picture and Best Director as well."

Greenwood immediately understood what was going on, "Emailgate has influenced the jurors, making them not want to choose 'Life of Pi' for the important awards."

Southgate, not new to ballot counting, agreed, "Exactly, Emailgate has dragged them down, who knows if 'Life of Pi' can even secure nominations for Best Director and Best Picture."

Foden chimed in, "There's certainly no hope in the acting awards."

The office door opened, a colleague brought in the latest ballots that had arrived, and the people inside got back to the assembly-line-like process.

After counting the newly received ballots, Southgate handed them to another person for rechecking and said, "I remember 'Life of Pi' had good reviews both professionally and from audiences, the quality of the film is solid, and Ang Lee is an old hand at the Oscars, he should have some achievements this year, but looking at the statistics, it doesn't look good."

Foden casually asked, "Ruined by Emailgate?"

"Not ruined," Greenwood took up the conversation. "Based on the data I've counted, nominations for a few smaller categories shouldn't be difficult."

Southgate hit the save key, "On my end, it's just like with the acting awards, this film has no chance."

Greenwood, puzzled, "With Harvey Weinstein locked up in prison picking up soap, why is the Oscar PR even more intense than when he was around, with methods more... um, unseemly."

Foden shrugged, "Who knows what's going on. Maybe someone has learned Harvey's essence and even improved upon it."

...

Disney Studio, on the set of "La La Land."

The lead actors, Martin and Silsa Ronan, walked hand in hand across the set, both turned around simultaneously and smiled at the camera, a romantic scene of love straight out of a fairy tale.

Director Damien Chazelle stood up and shouted loudly, "Cut! That's a wrap! I announce that the shooting phase of 'La La Land' is complete!"

Everyone on the set heaved a sigh of relief; the shoot had lasted more than two months and had become a form of torture for everyone involved.

Due to involving 48 different Los Angeles locations and a large number of outdoor song and dance scenes, the filming had fallen behind schedule significantly, even increasing the budget by 5 million US dollars.

Silsa Ronan opened her arms and hugged Martin, saying, "Sir, I hope to collaborate with you again in the future."

Martin gave a smile, "There should be an opportunity."

That evening, the crew held a grand party, both as a reward for everyone's hard work and as a way to generate publicity.