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Think YOUR job is difficult? Hey, there's a guy in Hollywood who has to hand the right envelope to the right person at the right time.
Oh, wait. That sounds really easy—yet it got screwed up.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are about to announce best picture, the culmination of entertainment's biggest awards show. Beatty opens a red envelope and looks at the card inside, giving a double-take. He looks inside the envelope to see if there's anything else there.
BEATTY: "The Academy Award..."
He pauses, looks at the envelope again.
BEATTY: "For best picture..."
He pauses again and looks offstage, then hands the envelope to Dunaway, who gives it a quick glance.
DUNAWAY: "La La Land."
The audience applauds, as the cast, crew, and producers of "La La Land" take the stage to accept what many had anticipated, the coveted honor of best picture. Producers Jason Horowitz and Marc Platt give speeches, but something seems amiss as Platt speaks. There's commotion among the people standing behind him as a man wearing headphones appears and checks red envelopes being held by producers.
[...] HOROWITZ: "There's a mistake. 'Moonlight', you guys won best picture. This is not a joke."
PLATT: "This is not a joke. I'm afraid they read the wrong thing."
[...] [Oscars host Jimmy] KIMMEL: "Guys. This is very unfortunate what happened. Personally, I blame Steve Harvey for this."
[...] KIMMEL: "Warren, what did you do?"
BEATTY: "I want to tell you what happened. I opened the envelope and it said 'Emma Stone, La La Land'. That's why I took such a long look at Faye and you. I wasn't trying to be funny."
takyon: 89th Academy Awards
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday February 27 2017, @07:07PM (5 children)
How often does that happen on live TV, though?
What I'm wondering is how much money it would have cost to print the category at the top of the paper... as they will next year.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday February 27 2017, @07:34PM (3 children)
All in all, yeah, multiple changes seem likely for next year - better labelling (on both the envelope and card), some more error checking in the procedures (including the announcers), and quite possibly someone other than PWC handling it all too.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 27 2017, @08:00PM (2 children)
While I consider the Oscars abominable, the Big Reveal remains an interesting problem. You have a secret that you want to keep secret from as many people as possible until a given moment when you want it to flip to the opposite (having as many people know as possible). This secret must be kept from anyone exposed to the public, most particularly the announcers who are to reveal the secret, who might accidentally telegraph the secret, if they know it ahead of time.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday February 27 2017, @09:15PM (1 child)
Obviously, PWC screwed up - their job on the night is to ensure the envelopes are kept secure then handed over in the correct sequence at the appropriate point, and they clearly didn't check the text on the envelope matched the award before giving it to Beatty. So far at least I've not seen anything on what kind of error checking (if any) that the presenters are meant to do, and what (if anything) they are supposed to do if they feel something is amiss. Under the pressure of the moment, did Beatty forget to check the envelope had the right award on the back when he was first given it? Before he opened it? What about checking the card in case an incorrect card was in the correct envelope? Or, as you note, was his eyesight simply not up to the task?
Fundamentally, I don't see how the physical setup could be improved, except possibly through some larger type and better control of the redundant envelopes. Procedurally however, I think we're going to see more expected of the presenters in future, including the three checks I mentioned above - and probably some truly awful jokes about it at next year's ceremony.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday February 28 2017, @08:31AM
In a terrible sort of way, I actually found it refreshing to be reminded that I am not the only one who occasionally phux up big-time.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28 2017, @12:56AM
> [...] how much money it would have cost to print the category at the top [...]
Toner, a penny or so.
A typist's labor, a few dollars.
Lost publicity, priceless.