Keeping Hollywood’s big secret until show time

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Two Los Angeles accountants are the only two people on Earth in possession of that most famous set of names — the Oscar winners.

Accounting giant PwC has overseen the balloting for the world’s most glamorous showbiz event for the past 79 years and, as a result, two of is partners, Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas, are the chosen two who know the winners before those famous envelopes are opened tomorrow night.

Brad and Rick lead a tight-lipped team of just four accountants who conduct the same ballot- counting method that they have used for decades. There has never been a single security breach in the 79 years that PwC has worked with the Academy.

Speaking from Los Angeles, Brad, now in his ninth year of having the privilege of knowing the Oscar winners in advance, admitted it was a perk he hadn’t expected when getting into accountancy.

“It’s a unique responsibility and both Rick and I look forward to it every year, it’s a great honour. But it’s also something we take very seriously as it’s an event that is watched all over the world,” he said.

Once the votes have been submitted and tabulated by PwC, Brad and Rick memorise every winner, and two briefcases are prepared with a complete set of envelopes bearing all the winners’ names. The briefcases are then brought by each of the PwC balloting leaders to the ceremony via separate, secret routes.

During the telecast, Brad and Rick remain backstage and hand each envelope to award presenters before they walk onstage.

“I’m on one side of the stage and Rick is on the other and we literally hand the envelopes to the stars as they go out on stage to announce the winner. PwC have custody of the envelopes right up until the last minute,” said Brad.

So while the stars are in the audience biting their nails, Brad and Rick experience an even more nerve-wracking experience backstage.

“There are certainly nerves. You might think that it is just handing an envelope to the right person at the right time, but it’s different while your doing it. You have got to make sure the right envelope goes to the right person as it’s a live event.”

And once the ceremony is over, it doesn’t end there for the PwC partners. They, along with their wives, are invited to the Governor’s Ball — the after-party of Oscars after-parties.

“One of the strangest feelings in the world is when you pull up in the limo at the red carpet and the huge crowd cheers when you step out. They cheer for everybody but, for a brief moment, you feel famous. Then you quickly come back down to earth,” joked Brad.

As for celebrity moments, Brad’s first year was particularly special.

“I got the chance to meet Julia Roberts backstage. I think she may have been one of the first people I handed an envelope to. She is obviously a huge star and I was a fan of her movies. I remember her being so relaxed and just so friendly and warm,” he said.

As for people hitting him up for some potentially lucrative tips on who are going to be the winners, Brad admits he has developed quite the poker face down the years.

“Rick and I definitely get a lot of teasing Oscar week. Photographers on the red carpet are always asking who is going to win and that sort of thing. It’s all good fun but we have got very good poker faces.”

Losers bag the goodies

If you win an Oscar, you get a shiny trophy, the recognition of your peers, all kinds of media coverage, and usually a better bargaining position for your next project. But what happens if you lose?

Well, at very least, your child gets to go to clown school.

Distinctive Assets is an American marketing firm that every year hands out “goodie bags” to the people who were nominated for Academy Awards but didn’t win.

This year’s package includes a professional class in circus skills for the nominee’s child, athletic shoes that have been customised with original artwork, a week at an up- market health spa, sessions with acupuncture and aromatherapy experts, and a year of VIP service at London’s Heathrow Airport. And if you’re brave enough, you can also use the “Vampire Face Lift” included in the package, a cosmetic procedure using “blood derived growth factors”.

The estimated value of the consolation prizes? About $45,000 (€34,000). Not a bad haul, though if you’d lost in 2010 you’d have walked away with $93,000 (€70,500) worth of stuff, including a safari.

If you were hoping for something more practical that you could use (or re-gift) right away, the package also includes tickets for resorts in Mexico, Australia, and Hawaii, deluxe water filters, and “portion control” dishes for those watching their figures, non-medically approved or scientifically gauged dinnerware that show you just how much meat, veggies, and carbs you should put on your plate. And if losers want to drown their sorrows with a night of debauchery, they’re all set — recipients will also find a bottle of artisan tequila and some condoms.

While Oscar nominees get some fine swag for their troubles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are no longer officially involved with the “goodie bag” programme. AMPAS was told by tax officials that recipients were obligated to report the goodies as income, and rather than get involved in other people’s tax problems, they opted to bow out. The only perk they offer nominees is attendance at their annual Governor’s Ball, held after the Oscar show is over.

As a result, the gifts aren’t handed out at the award ceremony, but delivered to the celebs or their representatives.

In the past, gift bags for presenters and performers included boxing lessons from former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, new BlackBerrys, dinner for nine prepared by Wolfgang Puck, and specially designed cell phones for children. The latter, along with those circus classes, suggests someone reckons even having the child of an Oscar nominee seen with your stuff is good publicity. Just keep them away from that tequila.

Picture: Preparing for the Academy Awards outside the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood Boulevard. Picture: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

Home