'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

'Hurt Locker,' 'Up in the Air,' and 'The Cove' win WGA film awards

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) announced the winners of the 2010 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, radio, news, promotional, and videogame writing at simultaneous ceremonies last night at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City.

Iraqi war film The Hurt Locker and corporate downsizing drama Up In the Air won honors from screenwriters in the final, major Hollywood awards show leading up to the Oscars.

The Hurt Locker writer Mark Boal won best original screenplay from the Writers Guild of America and Up In the Air claimed the prize for best adapted screenplay for co-writers Sheldon Turner and Jason Reitman.

Reitman, who also directed "Up in the Air," thanked several people including his father, producer Ivan Reitman, who he said read his first screenplay and said, "you know, you really got the goods."

Boal similarly took to the stage and talked about being honored to be a screenwriter and acknowledged the troops in Iraq with whom he had been embedded as a journalist before he wrote his screenplay about a group of men who defuse bombs.

They were the ones, Boal said, who showed him, "the tragedy and chaos and hellishness they face day in and day out."

The Writers Guild represents film and television writers in the United States, and their awards are often seen as a key indicator on who will go on to win Oscars, the world's top film honors, because many Writers Guild members also belong to Oscar organizer, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

So far this Oscar season, "Hurt Locker" has been honored by guilds of film producers and directors and is considered a favorite for the best film Academy Award along with key rival, box office hit "Avatar," urban drama "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" and "Up In the Air."

Richard O'Barry, 'The Cove'

Elsewhere in film categories, the Writers Guild gave its best documentary screenwriting award to The Cove, which details the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, and a lifetime achievement honor for film to writer/director Barry Levinson.

SCREEN WINNERS

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal; Summit Entertainment

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn; Paramount Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

The Cove, Written by Mark Monroe; Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions

TELEVISION WINNERS

DRAMA SERIES

Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Andrew Colville, Kater Gordon, Cathryn Humphris, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Brett Johnson, Erin Levy, Marti Noxon, Frank Pierson, Robin Veith, Dahvi Waller, Matthew Weiner; AMC

COMEDY SERIES

30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tom Ceraulo, Vali Chandrasekaran, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Steve Hely, Matt Hubbard, Dylan Morgan, Paula Pell, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Josh Siegal, Ron Weiner, Tracey Wigfield; NBC

NEW SERIES

Modern Family, Written by Paul Corrigan, Sameer Gardezi, Joe Lawson, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Dan O'Shannon, Brad Walsh, Caroline Williams, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker; ABC

EPISODIC DRAMA – any length – one airing time

“Broken, Part 1 and Part 2” (House), Written by Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner & David Foster & David Shore; Fox

EPISODIC COMEDY – any length – one airing time (**TIE**)

“Apollo, Apollo” (30 Rock), Written by Robert Carlock; NBC

“Pilot” (Modern Family), Written by Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd; ABC

LONG FORM – ORIGINAL – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times

Georgia O’Keeffe, Written by Michael Cristofer; Lifetime

LONG FORM – ADAPTATION – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times

Taking Chance, Teleplay by Lieutenant Colonel Michael R. Strobl, USMC (Ret.) and Ross Katz, Based on the short story by Lieutenant Colonel Michael R. Strobl, USMC (Ret.); HBO

ANIMATION – any length – one airing time

“Wedding for Disaster” (The Simpsons), Written by Joel H. Cohen; Fox

COMEDY / VARIETY – (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES (**TIE**)

Saturday Night Live, Head Writer: Seth Meyers, Writers Doug Abeles, James Anderson, Alex Baze, Jessica Conrad, James Downey, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, John Lutz, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Paula Pell, Simon Rich, Marika Sawyer, Akiva Schaffer, John Solomon, Emily Spivey, Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker, Additional Sketch by Adam McKay, Andrew Steele; NBC

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Head Writer: Steve Bodow, Writers Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Blomquist, Tim Carvell, Wyatt Cenac, Hallie Haglund, JR Havlan, David Javerbaum, Elliott Kalan, Josh Lieb, Sam Means, Jo Miller, John Oliver, Daniel Radosh, Jason Ross, Jon Stewart; Comedy Central

COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS

Film Independent’s 2009 Spirit Awards, Written by Billy Kimball, Neil MacLennan; IFC/AMC

DAYTIME SERIAL

The Young and the Restless, Written by Amanda L. Beall, Tom Casiello, Lisa Connor, Janice Ferri Esser, Eric Freiwald, Jay Gibson, Scott Hamner, Marla Kanelos, Beth Milstein, Natalie Minardi Slater, Melissa Salmons, Linda Schreiber, James Stanley, Sandra Weintraub, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS

CHILDREN'S EPISODIC & SPECIALS

“Welcome to the Jungle” (The Troop), Written by Max Burnett; Nickelodeon

CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL

Another Cinderella Story, Written by Erik Patterson, Jessica Scott; ABC Family

DOCUMENTARY – CURRENT EVENTS

“The Madoff Affair” (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria, Martin Smith; PBS

DOCUMENTARY – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS

“The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer” (American Experience), Written by David Grubin; PBS

NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN OR BREAKING REPORT

World News with Charles Gibson, Written by Lee Kamlet, Julia Kathan, Joel Siegel; ABC

NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“A Private War: Expose: America’s Investigative Reports” (Bill Moyers Journal), Written by Thomas M. Jennings; PBS

RADIO WINNERS

DOCUMENTARY

2008 Year in Review, Written by Gail Lee; CBS

NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING

World News This Week − July 11, 2009, Written by Darren Reynolds; ABC Radio

NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE OR COMMENTARY

Paul Harvey: An American Life, Written by Stu Chamberlain; ABC Radio

PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ANIMATION WINNERS

ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)

“Vegas” (Dateline), “The Wanted” Promo, NBC Nightly News Promo, “Iran” (Dateline), “Cheat” (Dateline), Written by Barry Fitzsimmons; NBC

TELEVISION GRAPHIC ANIMATION

“Hudson Splashdown” (CBS Evening News with Katie Couric), David M. Rosen, Shannon L. Toma; CBS

VIDEOGAME WRITING WINNER

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Written by Amy Hennig; Sony Computer Entertainment

Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) hosted the West Coast show, which was executive produced by Spike Jones, Jr. Presenters scheduled to appear at the Los Angeles show included: Morgan Freeman, Billy Crystal, Judd Apatow with Jason Segel, Diablo Cody with John Corbett, Ali LeRoi with Chris Rock, David Shore with Hugh Laurie, Jason Alexander, Mila Kunis, Bill Blinn with Billy Dee Williams, Aaron Sorkin with Thomas Schlamme, Sally Sussman Morina with Anthony Morina, Todd J. Greenwald with David Henrie, WGAW President John Wells, and Robin Williams via a special video tribute to Barry Levinson. Host MacFarlane opened the show with a house-rocking production number with back-up singers featuring his version of “Ya Got Trouble” from The Music Man. Also in attendance at the WGAW’s L.A. ceremony were: Meg Ryan, Danny McBride, Cheryl Hines, Kathryn Bigelow, and Lee Daniels.

Susie Essman of Curb Your Enthusiasm hosted the East Coast show, which was executive produced by Craig Shemin, who was also the head writer. Presenters scheduled to appear at the show in New York included: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Ana Ortiz, Fred Armisen, Fran Brill and Prairie Dawn, Josh Charles, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Abby Elliott, Chris Elliott, Edie Falco, Nancy Giles, Don Hastings, Bill Irwin, Marc Lawrence, Elizabeth I. McCann, Bob McGrath, Seth Meyers, Mo Rocca, Wallace Shawn, Jeremy Sisto, Harry Smith, WGAE President Michael Winship, and Senator Al Franken in a special video tribute to honorary award recipient Alan Zweibel. Musical entertainment during the ceremony was provided by the Mark Pender Band featuring LaBamba. Also in attendance were: Tina Fey, Anthony Mackie, Nora Ephron, Michael H. Weber, Tom Fontana, and Terry George.

The Writers Guild of America, West presented special honors to: Larry David – Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television for lifetime achievement; Barry Levinson – Screen Laurel Award for lifetime achievement; Anthony Peckham (Invictus) – Paul Selvin Award, recognizing written work which spotlights constitutional rights and civil liberties; Carl Gottlieb – Morgan Cox Award, honoring longtime Guild service.

The Writers Guild of America, East presented special honors to: Alan Zweibel - Ian McLellan Hunter Lifetime Achievement Award; Gary David Goldberg – Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence; Edward Albee – Evelyn F. Burkey Award for contributions bringing honor and dignity to writers everywhere; David Steven Cohen - Jablow Award for devoted service to the Guild, and Philippa Leverman - John Merriman Award for Study of Broadcast Journalism at American University. In addition, the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation presented the Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting to Antal Zambo of Wayne State University.

For more information about the 2010 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wga.org or www.wgaeast.org.

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'Hurt Locker's' Kathryn Bigelow and 'The Cove's' Louie Psihoyos DGA Winners

Feature Film Winner: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Feature Documentary Winner: Louie Psihoyos, The Cove

History was made Saturday night at the 62nd Annual DGA Awards as Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Director's Guild of America Outstanding Direction of a feature film award for The Hurt Locker.

Kathryn Bigelow & James Cameron at 2010 DGA Awards
Photo Credit: AP Photo

Bigelow defeated a number of strong nominees including her ex-husband, but now good friend James Cameron ("Avatar"), Quentin Tarantino ("Inglourious Basterds"), Lee Daniels ("Precious") and Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air"). Only twice in the past ten years has a DGA winner not gone on to win the equivalent Academy Award. Those exceptions occurred in 2001 when Ang Lee won for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (Steven Soderbergh won the Oscar for "Traffic") and in 2002 when Rob Marshall won for "Chicago" (Roman Polanski won the Oscar that year for "The Pianist"). In that time span, it should be noted the last six DGA winners went on to win Oscar.

Many will now speculate that this win along with the PGA win means that "Avatar's" frontrunner status for Best Picture is not as strong as once believed. It would be quite a David vs. Goliath story if "Hurt Locker," which made only $12 million in the U.S. (but was No. 1 in DVD rental chart last week) defeated Cameron's "Avatar" for Oscar's biggest prize.

The complete list of 2010 Director's Guild of America winners are as follows:


DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Feature Film
Winner: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"

DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Feature Documentary
Winner: , "The Cove"

DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Movie for Television
Winner: Michael Sucsy, "Grey Gardens"

DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Dramatic Series Night
Winner: Lesli Linka Glatter, "Mad Men," "Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency"

DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series
Winner: Jason Winer, "Modern Family," Pilot

DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical Variety program
Winner: Don Mischner, "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration"

DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Reality Program
Winner: Craig Borders, "Build It Bigger Season 3": "Hong Kong Bridge"

DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Daytime Serial
Winner: Christopher Goutman, "As The World Turns," "Once Upon A Time"

DGA Award for Outstanding Direction in Commercials
Winner: Tom Kuntz - Eyebrows, Cadbury; Tailor, Skittles; Scents For Gents, Old Spice; Tips, Career Builder

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'Hurt Locker,’ ‘Up,’ ‘The Cove’ win Producers Guild Award

Summit's The Hurt Locker took home the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures at the 21st annual PGA Awards. The prize was shared by producers Kathryn Bigelow (who also directed, photo at left), Mark Boal (the film's screenwriter), Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro.

The presentation capped the 21st Annual Producers Guild of America Awards 2010 ceremony held at the Hollywood Palladium this evening.

The Hurt Locker has picked up numerous critics awards, and two weekends ago it won the Broadcast Film Critics Assn.'s Critics Choice Award for best picture. But at the Golden Globes two nights later, Avatar walked off with the best drama prize, and at Saturday's SAG Awards, Inglourious Basterds picked up the film ensemble award, that guild's equivalent of the best picture prize.

With its PGA triumph, The Hurt Locker now reseizes the moment, although a best picture Oscar is by no means a done deal: During the 20-year history of the PGA Awards, 12 of its movie winners have gone on to win the best-film Oscar.

Louie Psihoyos’s The Cove won the documentary prize.

Pixar’s Up also nominated in the field of 10 Best Picture contenders, won the animated feature award, the highest grossing film of the category.

Mo’Nique presented the Stanley Kramer Award to Precious director Lee Daniels. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen presented the David O. Selznick Award to Pixar's John Lasseter. Will Smith presented the Milestone Award to Sony’s Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton.

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