The following press release just arrived in my Inbox regarding the much talked about The Hurt Locker producer Nicolas Chartier.
I guess the severity of the penalty for his actions is up to you if the Academy went too far or not far enough as Chartier “has been denied attendance at the 82nd Academy Awards” as it appears the Academy was most upset about Chartier’s disparaging remarks toward competing films, most obviously was Avatar, which he referred to in one email as the “$500M film” competing against an “independent” like Hurt Locker.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that, should “The Hurt Locker” be announced as the recipient of the Best Picture award at Sunday’s ceremonies, only three of the picture’s producers will be present for the celebration. The fourth of the film’s credited producers, Nicolas Chartier, has been denied attendance at the 82nd Academy Awards® as a penalty for violating Academy campaigning standards.
Chartier had recently disseminated an email to certain Academy voters and other film industry figures in which he solicited votes for his own picture and disparaged one of the other contending films. Academy rules prohibit “casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film.” The executive committee of the Academy’s Producers Branch, at a special session late Monday, ruled that the ethical lapse merited the revocation of Chartier’s invitation to the Awards.
The group stopped short of recommending that the Academy governors rescind Chartier’s nomination. If “The Hurt Locker” were to be selected as Best Picture, Chartier would receive his Oscar® statuette at some point subsequent to the March 7 ceremonies.
This news arrived in my Inbox approximately 90 minutes before voting for the 2010 Oscars closed, and if you are wondering, yes, Chartier will still be awarded an Oscar if The Hurt Locker wins, he just won’t be there to thank anyone for it.
Thoughts?
