Oscar® Fans: Your Red Carpet Seats Await

Oscar® fans will soon have a chance to vie for seats on the most coveted and glamorous spot on Hollywood Boulevard.

Beginning on Monday, September 13, at noon ET/9 a.m. PT, and continuing for only one week, fans from around world may apply online to take part in a random drawing for seats on the 83rd Academy Awards® red carpet.

There are only 700 seats available along the 500-foot-long walkway that leads into the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. Those who are selected will watch and cheer Oscar nominees, presenters and other ceremony guests as they arrive at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday, February 27, 2011. Following the red carpet arrivals, everyone seated in the bleachers will be invited to watch the Academy Awards telecast at a nearby location.

Red Carpet preparations showing bleacher seats at left. . .

The application form will be available at Oscars.org/bleachers. The online-only application process will close on Sunday, September 19, at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT.

To be eligible for the random drawing, an individual must complete the application form in its entirety. Applications may only be submitted online. Forms may not be returned via any other method.

Applicants may register for themselves and one guest. Duplicate registrations will not be accepted.

Those whose names are selected in the random drawing will be notified in late September. They will then be required to submit additional information for security purposes prior to final approval. Eligible attendees will receive a confirmation letter in early January with information pertinent to the event.

Only those individuals who have been pre-approved by the Academy will have access to the bleachers. Those who wait overnight to attempt admittance will not be granted entry.

The Academy will not be responsible for securing travel and/or hotel accommodations for bleacher fans.

In previous years, as many as 20,000 fans have applied online for the limited number of red carpet seats.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

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'Hurt Locker' Best Picture Chances are Up in the Air | Nicolas Chartier Apologizes for Oscar® Vote Emails

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering action against a producer of The Hurt Locker who sent out multiple emails urging academy members to vote for his movie in the Oscar best-picture category and "not a $500 million film," an obvious reference to close-competitor Avatar.

The emails by Nicolas Chartier, one of four nominated producers for The Hurt Locker and who put up the financing to make the front-running film, violated the academy's rule against sending mailings that "attempt to promote any film or achievement by casting a negative light on a competing film or achievement," according to academy spokeswoman Leslie Unger.

The initial email was sent Feb. 19 and obtained by The Associated Press. Subsequent emails, posted by the Los Angeles Times, showed Chartier giving more specific instructions, asking Oscar voters to rank The Hurt Locker at No. 1 and "Avatar" at No. 10 on this year's preferential ballot for the newly expanded best-picture category.

Hurt Locker distributor Summit Pictures said in a statement it was "completely unaware of any emails that were sent until we were alerted by the academy earlier this week."

Chartier, after being confronted by Summit executives, worked with the studio and the academy to craft an apology for his actions, said Summit spokesman Paul Pflug.

"My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first-time nominee is not an excuse for this behaviour and I strongly regret it," Chartier wrote in an email obtained by The Associated Press. "Being nominated for an academy Award is the ultimate honour and I should have taken the time to read the rules."

Avatar's distributor, 20th Century Fox, declined comment on the emails, as did director James Cameron or anyone connected with the 3-D sci-fi sensation -- Hollywood's biggest modern blockbuster. Hurt Lockers's director Kathryn Bigelow is the ex-wife of Cameron.

Possible disciplinary measures by AMPAS® include public censure, taking away Chartier's Oscar tickets, and the unlikely option of removing "The Hurt Locker" -- the season's top award-winner so far -- from best picture consideration, according to several academy members familiar with the situation.

It's also possible that if The Hurt Locker wins, the academy won't extend membership to Chartier, like it does to most newly minted Oscar winners, the members said.

With Oscar ballots due Tuesday, the controversy surrounding Chartier's actions may have little effect on the March 7 Academy Awards® because most voters have already mailed in their ballots, said one of the academy members.

In addition to Chartier's emails, The Hurt Locker is also facing complaints -- just now surfacing, though the movie was released last June -- from veterans and active soldiers over the accuracy of its combat scenes.

Nothing like tooting your own horn but one must play by the rules of the road.

Will David or Goliath win Best Picture Oscar® next weekend? Tune into the 82nd Annual Academy Awards® on ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. ET to find out.

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Source: The Associated Press

AMPAS Announces 2010 Oscar® Feature Documentary Short List

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards®. Eighty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:

• “The Beaches of Agnes,” Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
• “Burma VJ,” Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
• “The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
• “Every Little Step,” James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
• “Facing Ali,” Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
• “Food, Inc.,” Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
• “Garbage Dreams,” Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
• “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
• “Mugabe and the White African,” Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
• “Sergio,” Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
• “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
• “Under Our Skin,” Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
• “Valentino The Last Emperor,” Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
• “Which Way Home,” Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)

The Documentary Branch Screening Committee viewed all the eligible documentaries for the preliminary round of voting. Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.

I've only seen The Cove (my personal favorite) and Food Inc. This is a great day for animals all over the world!

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

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