Oscar Drama: Academy Yanks ’13 Hours’ Sound Mixer’s Nomination for Rules Violation
Greg P. Russell engaged in telephone lobbying, AMPAS says
Matt Donnelly | February 25, 2017 @ 2:36 PM
Last Updated: February 25, 2017 @ 5:52 PM
Paramount
The Academy has rescinded its Oscar nomination for Greg P. Russell, sound mixer on director Michael Bay’s “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” for a rules violation.
AMPAS released a statement on Saturday — just one day before the ceremony — that Russell had violated a rule against lobbying other Academy members in phone calls during the nominations phase. The board of governors, on the recommendation of the Sound Branch’s executive committee, voted on Thursday to revoke his nomination as a result.
“The decision was prompted by the discovery that Russell had called his fellow members of the Sound Branch during the nominations phase to make them aware of his work on the film in direct violation of a campaign regulation that prohibits telephone lobbying,” a spokesperson for the academy said in a statement.
Upon recommendation by the Sound Branch Executive Committee, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted Thursday (2/23) to rescind the Sound Mixing nomination for Greg P. Russell from “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” for violation of Academy campaign regulations. The decision was prompted by the discovery that Russell had called his fellow members of the Sound Branch during the nominations phase to make them aware of his work on the film, in direct violation of a campaign regulation that prohibits telephone lobbying. An additional nominee for “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” will not be named in his place. The remaining Sound Mixing nominees for the film are Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth.
“The Board of Governors’ decision to rescind Mr. Russell’s nomination was made after careful consideration,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “The Academy takes very seriously the Oscars voting process and anything – no matter how well-intentioned – that may undermine the integrity of that process.”
The Board determined that Russell’s actions violated a campaign regulation that unequivocally prohibits telephone lobbying. It states that “contacting Academy members by telephone to promote a film or achievement is expressly forbidden, even if such contact is in the guise of checking to make sure a screener or other mailing was received.”
The members from each of the Academy’s branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, musicians, composers and lyricists vote the nominations for song and score.
During the nominations process, all 456 voting members of the Sound Branch received a reminder list of film titles eligible in the Sound Mixing category in order to vote.
The nominees for Sound Mixing are:
ARRIVAL Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
HACKSAW RIDGE Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
LA LA LAND Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
Oscars 2017: Our Predictions in All 24 Categories (Photos)
It's been years since the last big sweep, but Damien Chazelle's musical is threatening to turn the Oscars into a 'La La' Palooza. Here's how TheWrap awards editor and veteran Oscarologist Steve Pond predicts this Sunday will go down.
NOMINEES: "Arrival," "Fences," "Hacksaw Ridge," "Hell or High Water," "Hidden Figures," "La La Land," "Lion," "Manchester by the Sea," "Moonlight"
WINNER: "La La Land"
BEST DIRECTOR
NOMINEES: Damien Chazelle, "La La Land"; Mel Gibson, "Hacksaw Ridge"; Barry Jenkins, "Moonlight"; Kenneth Lonergan, "Manchester by the Sea"; Denis Villeneuve, "Arrival"
WINNER: Damien Chazelle
BEST ACTOR
NOMINEES: Casey Affleck, "Manchester by the Sea"; Andrew Garfield, "Hacksaw Ridge"; Ryan Gosling, "La La Land"; Viggo Mortensen, "Captain Fantastic"; Denzel Washington, "Fences"
WINNER: Denzel Washington
BEST ACTRESS
NOMINEES: Isabelle Huppert, "Elle"; Ruth Negga, "Loving"; Natalie Portman, "Jackie"; Emma Stone, "La La Land"; Meryl Streep, "Florence Foster Jenkins"
WINNER: Emma Stone
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
NOMINEES: Mahershala Ali, "Moonlight"; Jeff Bridges, "Hell or High Water"; Lucas Hedges, "Manchester by the Sea"; Dev Patel, "Lion"; Michael Shannon, "Nocturnal Animals"
WINNER: Mahershala Ali
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Best Supporting Actress
NOMINEES: Viola Davis, "Fences"; Naomie Harris, "Moonlight"; Nicole Kidman, "Lion"; Octavia Spencer, "Hidden Figures"; Michelle Williams, "Manchester by the Sea"
WINNER: Viola Davis
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
NOMINEES: "Arrival," "Fences," "Hidden Figures," "La La Land," "Moonlight"
WINNER: Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, "Moonlight"
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
NOMINEES: "Hell or High Water," "La La Land," "The Lobster," "Manchester by the Sea," "20th Century Women"
WINNER: Kenneth Lonergan, "Manchester by the Sea"
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
NOMINEES: "Kubo and the Two Strings," "Moana," "My Life as a Zucchini," "The Red Turtle," "Zootopia"
WINNER: "Zootopia"
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
NOMINEES: "Land of Mine," "A Man Called Ove," "The Salesman," "Tanna," "Toni Erdmann"
WINNER: "The Salesman"
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
NOMINEES: "Fire at Sea," "I Am Not Your Negro," "Life, Animated," "O.J.: Made in America," "13th"
WINNER: "O.J.: Made in America"
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES: "Arrival," "La La Land," "Lion," "Moonlight," "Silence"
WINNER: "La La Land"
BEST FILM EDITING
NOMINEES: "Arrival," "Hacksaw Ridge," "Hell or High Water" "La La Land," "Moonlight"
WINNER: "La La Land"
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES: "Arrival," "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," "Hail, Caesar!," "La La Land," "Passengers"
WINNER: "La La Land"
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
NOMINEES: "Allied," "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," "Florence Foster Jenkins," "Jackie," "La La Land"
WINNER: "La La Land"
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
NOMINEES: "A Man Called Ove," "Star Trek Beyond," "Suicide Squad"
WINNER: "Star Trek Beyond"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
NOMINEES: "Jackie," "La La Land," "Lion," "Moonlight," "Passengers"
WINNER: "La La Land"
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
NOMINEES: "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from "La La Land," "Can't Stop the Feeling" from "Trolls," "City of Stars" from "La La Land," "The Empty Chair" from "Jim: The James Foley Story," "How Far I'll Go" from "Moana"
WINNER: "City of Stars" from "La La Land"
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
NOMINEES: "Deepwater Horizon," "Doctor Strange," "The Jungle Book," "Kubo and the Two Strings," "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"
WINNER: "The Jungle Book"
BEST SOUND EDITING
NOMINEES: "Arrival," "Deepwater Horizon," "Hacksaw Ridge," "La La Land," "Sully"
WINNER: "Hacksaw Ridge"
BEST SOUND MIXING
NOMINEES: "Arrival," "Hacksaw Ridge," "La La Land," "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi"
WINNER: "La La Land"
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
NOMINEES: "Extremis," "4.1 Miles," "Joe's Violin," "Watani: My Homeland," "The White Helmets"
We watched all the shorts and documentary categories so you can slay on your office pool
It's been years since the last big sweep, but Damien Chazelle's musical is threatening to turn the Oscars into a 'La La' Palooza. Here's how TheWrap awards editor and veteran Oscarologist Steve Pond predicts this Sunday will go down.
