Inside the 'Blood Sport' of Oscars Campaigns
走进奥斯卡公关“猎杀活动”
By Irina Aleksander
Depending on how closely you've been following the Oscars race this year, you may or may not know the name Andrea Riseborough. Before Jan. 24, few outside of the film industry did. But on Jan. 24, Riseborough was nominated for a best-actress Oscar. Within 24 hours, the reaction to Riseborough's nomination went from surprise to scrutiny to backlash.
如果你一直在密切关注今年的奥斯卡角逐,那你大概率听说过安德丽娅·赖斯伯勒(Andrea Riseborough)这个名字。在今年1月24日之前,除非是电影业内人士,很少有人听说过她。1月24日那天,赖斯伯勒被提名今年的奥斯卡最佳女主角。而在之后的24小时里,人们对她提名的反应几经转变,从惊讶到审视,再到强烈反对。
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscars' governing body, opened an investigation. Oscar campaign regulations forbid direct lobbying, and it turned out that some of Riseborough's supporters had encouraged academy members to watch the film and publicly endorse Riseborough's performance.
奥斯卡主办方美国电影艺术与科学学院对此展开了调查。奥斯卡公关规则中严禁直接游说,结果发现赖斯伯勒的支持者们曾鼓动学院成员,观看这部电影并去公开称赞她的演技。
The controversy reminded everyone of the reality of the Oscars: that despite the big show of sealed envelopes being delivered via handcuffed briefcases, the votes— in Hollywood as in Washington, D.C.— are a result of a highly contingent, political process, handed down not from movie gods but from the very people who stand to benefit from it.
这场争议让所有人再次看到奥斯卡的真相:获奖名单被密封在信封里,再用上锁的公文包送达现场,尽管做出了这样声势浩大的场面,但投票的结果却产生于一个高度不确定、争权夺利的过程——在这点上,好莱坞和华盛顿特区并无二致。这些奖项,并非“电影之神”的选择,而恰恰是由那些会因此获利的人选出的。
The Oscars race is split into Phases 1 and 2: before and after the nominations.“Phase 2 is all about honing your narrative and defining yourself in the race,“ Lea Yardum, who is working with a couple best-picture nominees this year, told me. Narratives don't always work, but a good narrative can triumph over a bad movie.
奥斯卡的角逐分为两个阶段:提名前和提名后。与几部获今年最佳影片提名电影都有合作的莉亚·亚杜姆(Lea Yardum)告诉我:“第二阶段的重点就是打磨你的故事,在这场角逐中为自己找到独特定位。”虽然讲故事不一定会奏效,但好的叙事也许能挽救一部烂片。
Oscars campaigning has been around as long as there have been Oscars, but the modern playbook was invented by Harvey Weinstein in the late 1980s and early '90s. Weinstein demanded that actors clear their schedules for awards season and relentlessly lobbied academy members.
奥斯卡公关活动自该奖项诞生以来就一直存在,但这套现代公关策略的“现代兵法”是由哈维·韦恩斯坦(Harvey Weinstein)在20世纪80年代末、90年代初建立起来的。韦恩斯坦曾要求演员为颁奖季空出日程,并对学院成员进行不懈的游说。
“For Harvey, campaigning was a blood sport,“ Terry Press, who was then Spielberg's head of marketing at DreamWorks, told me.“Everybody wants to win. But Harvey wanted to win and kill everything else.“
曾在斯皮尔伯格的梦工厂担任营销主管的特里·普雷斯(Terry Press)告诉我:“对哈维来说,公关是一场‘猎杀活动’。所有人都想赢,但哈维不仅要自己赢,还想摧毁其他一切。”
“Winning awards has become the guiding principle of our industry, and it's what's destroying it,“ Amanda Lundberg, the chief executive of 42West, told me.
媒体公司42West的首席执行官阿曼达·伦德伯格(Amanda Lundberg)对我讲道:“赢得奖项已成为指导这个行业一切工作的原则,而这个原则也正在摧毁我们的行业。”