As the holidays approach, they mean one thing to a lot of exhausted actors and filmmakers: A chance to rest after Phase One of a grueling awards campaign.
Film folk have been bouncing around from coast to coast (and, in some cases, across the Atlantic) on a grand-scale dog-and-pony show, meeting kudos voters at parties and an endless round of Q&A sessions.
With ballots going out to AMPAS members Dec. 26 and Oscar noms being announced Jan. 22, Phase Two of the meet-and-greets will begin. But to land those nominations, the past two months have been crucial as celebs bang the drums for their films. Press junkets, media interviews and chatshows are used to sell tickets; the Q&A circuit is about getting the word out to awards voters that they must see this film before a ballot is filled out.
The Q&A sessions have been around for at least a decade, but studios this year have made them a much larger component of campaigns, on the assumption that in-person contact will help pics and talent win award attention -- and because they're a relatively cheap way to promote the pic.
It's not uncommon for one film to chalk up 25-35 sessions in a brief year-end period.
Helmer Ed Zwick is among the many Hollywood names who has been doing the rounds for months. He's been touting Paramount Vantage's "Defiance," from guild Q&As to an industry party at Mr. Chow's in Beverly Hills. "It's very difficult to turn from an artist into a salesman," he says. "It's so American to want to have everything in competition, even artists in competition with each other."
Emma Thompson did the circuit for Overture's "Last Chance Harvey" with Dustin Hoffman. "We work to entertain and inform our fellow human beings," she tells Variety. "We don't want to get prizes all the time, it's not the bloody point. I don't have anything against it. It was the most extraordinary experience of my professional life. But I don't think this circus, which requires you to promote yourself, is good for people or for their creative ability."
On ABC's talker "The View," Meryl Streep said, "I hate the whole campaigning thing now for awards. I find it just unseemly. These campaigns are launched, like a political campaign. You run for this award. It should be that you're honored with an award, not that your campaign was that much better or well-financed."
MTV PLANS 16 REALITY SHOWS
In trying to keep its hold on young and fickle audiences, MTV over the decades has undergone some fundamental programming shifts, but never before on this scale.
The cabler's recent ratings declines include a 23% fourth-quarter drop in its core demo of 12- to 34-year-olds. So MTV is embarking on a major programming overhaul, with 16 new unscripted series over the next 4 months.
The series come from high-profile producers including Sean Combs, Matt Stone & Trey Parker, Donald Trump and Nick Lachey. And they represent a major thematic shift for the channel -- more toward the meta-scripted reality of MTV's "The Hills," one of the cabler's few success stories these days.
While MTV pioneered reality series with 1992's "The Real World," that genre has become ubiquitous, so the network is offering a slate that avoids the backbiting and bitchery of most nonfiction fare.
"Our new shows will feature themes of affirmation and accomplishment," says Brian Graden, prez of entertainment at MTV Networks music channels and president of Logo. "Our shows are going to focus less on loud and silly hooks and more on young people proving themselves. These are themes that are consistent with the Obama generation."
CLASSIC FILMS
BY GENRE
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Nothing Like the Holidays
Yes man
Slumdog Millionaire
Frost/Nixon
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Australia
Quantum of Solace
Milk
Four Christmases
Twilight
Bolt
