Washington Post – LOS ANGELES — After taking responsibility for the epic best picture flub at the Oscars last year, Tim Ryan of PwC got down to business.
He grilled the partners who made the gaffe, then personally reached out to the dozens of people affected by it: The show’s producers, presenters and stage managers and the filmmakers behind “La La Land” and “Moonlight.”
In the months that followed, PwC met with the academy many times to come up with new protocols and safeguards to prevent such a blunder in the future. Ryan revealed six new reforms to The Associated Press.
Anyone who watched the Oscars last year won’t soon forget the once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) mistake that occurred during the announcement of the Best Picture winner. Warren Beatty erroneously announced La La Land as the winner when in fact Moonlight* had won.
*Quick aside. Neither should have won. Arrival was easily the best movie among the nominees but that’s neither here nor there.
The new protocols to be followed are:
PwC partners will attend rehearsals and practice what to do if something goes wrong.
An additional balloting partner who will be with the producers in the show’s control room. This partner will also have a complete list of the winners and will be expected to commit that list to memory.
The two PwC partners from last year have been replaced. I consent this isn’t strictly a “measure” in the sense that these others are, but it was something that had to be done.
A new procedure for handing over the envelopes. The celebrity presenter and the stage manager will both confirm they’ve been given the correct envelope.
PwC partners are prohibited from using cell phones or going on social media during the show.
While human error is something that can’t be avoided, the mistake last year was a very public one and a very humiliating one. On the surface this seems like it should be an easy, straightforward process. You would think they would always check the envelope before going onstage; it would just seem like a natural action to take. But I guess last year’s fiasco, and the new protocols being put in place, would refute that. In any event, everyone involved in the production of the show should be more aware now than ever, and that by itself should play a big part in preventing something like this from happening again.
The Oscar nominees will be announced on Tuesday, January 23 with the Oscars ceremony taking place on March 4.
