Three days after Andrea Riseborough’s Oscar nomination shocked Hollywood, questions were raised about possible violations of the Academy’s campaign lobbying rules.
On Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it had launched “a review of the campaign procedures around this year’s nominees, to ensure no guidelines were violated and to let us know if any changes may be needed.” in the guidelines in a new era of social networks and digital communication”.
The investigation follows an aggressive grassroots campaign that saw Hollywood heavyweights sing the praises of Riseborough in the weeks leading up to the vote. Amy Adams, Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Melanie Lynskey and Laura Dern were among those who hosted Q&As, screenings and posted about the little-seen “To Leslie” on their personal social media pages.
Supporters of the film and of Riseborough’s performance have said that his social media posts have reflected genuine enthusiasm for the performance and attempts to draw attention to a film that did not receive his rivals’ campaign budget. In its statement announcing the investigation, the Academy said: “We are confident in the integrity of our nomination and voting procedures, and we support genuine grassroots campaigns for outstanding performances.”
But some have questioned the supposedly organic nature of the awards push, especially after actresses of color Danielle Deadwyler and Viola Davis, both hoping for Best Actress nominations, were ousted.
According to a veteran Oscar activist who asked not to be named, “Jason Weinberg [Riseborough’s manager] he mobilized an army of older white ladies. [You’re] You are not allowed to do that if you are a member of the Academy. But when [a] the manager says: if you are [an] aging actress, what are you doing?
Weinberg, who did not return repeated calls for comment from TheWrap, is a major player in Hollywood, with a star list that includes some of Hollywood’s most famous women, including Allison Williams, Christina Ricci, Naomi Watts. Weinberg is Riseborough’s manager, as well as that of Laura Dern, who hosted a Q&A for the film.
As early as November, Weinberg’s clients and others who co-represented CAA began appearing in the film. According to the audiovisual club, Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow Courteney Cox, edward nortonJennifer Aniston and Minnie Driver organized screenings on behalf of the agency.
Then, in December and January, they took their efforts to social media. Meredith Vieira, Mia Farrow, Allison Janney, and Joe Mantegna called “For Leslie” “a little movie with a giant heart,” oddly enough using the same specific phrase. Actress Mary McCormack, who is also a client of Weinberg and CAA, as well as the wife of “To Leslie” director Michael Morris, retweeted several posts from supporters of the film on her Twitter and Instagram.
It wasn’t long after commenters on Reddit he began to notice a similarity in the phrases in various social media posts, particularly the phrase “a small movie with a giant heart.” The Oscar campaign source noted that the shared language of the posts, especially by McCormack and actress Betty Buckley, could imply they were written by the same person as part of a coordinated campaign.
Made for less than a million dollars, “To Leslie” was pulled from its SXSW premiere by Momentum Pictures, a division of Entertainment One. In October, the film opened in only one theater for one week, grossing a paltry $27,000 before heading to VOD.
According to a source with inside knowledge, Momentum, which has been accused of botching co-star Marc Maron’s marketing of the film, among others, he didn’t plan “an Oscars theatrical play… when they were buying the movie. His plan was to put it in a couple of theaters and then put it on VOD because that’s where they make their money.” The source continued: “Now they’re actually going to do some.” The source was unable to discuss Weinberg’s involvement in the grassroots campaign. However, Momentum was “at times pressured into putting up money for a campaign”.
The film was able to pay $20,000 to the Academy to be placed in the members-only Academy screening room in early December, and also paid for direct mailings to members through AMPAS. Two public relations firms, Narrative and Shelter, also worked on the campaign.
The Academy’s rules are largely focused on campaign dos and don’ts, but mostly deal with the logistics of screenings, receptions, promotional items, and emails. The section titled “Lobbying” consists of a single sentence, the interpretation of which could determine whether Riseborough’s campaign is simply a grassroots effort (which the Academy says it supports) or a rule violation. “It is expressly prohibited to contact Academy members directly and in a manner outside the scope of these rules to promote a film or achievement for Academy Award consideration,” he read.
The campaign rules do not contain specific penalties when someone is found to have broken the rules. In recent years, the AMPAS Board of Governors has taken action twice: once in 2014, when songwriter Bruce Broughton contacted colleagues to bring attention to his eligible song “Alone But Not Alone,” and again three years then, when sound mixer Greg P. Russell violated campaign rules that prohibited potential nominees from lobbying by phone. Before those incidents, producer Nicolas Chartier was found to have violated campaign rules in emails comparing his film “The Hurt Locker” to his main rival “Avatar” in 2010.
In the case of Broughton and Russell, their nominations were rescinded. Russell’s fellow nominees for “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” were allowed to keep their nominations, while Broughton’s nomination was scrapped and the category officially had only four nominees (as the Best Actress category would do). this year if Riseborough’s nomination were to be rescinded).
In Chartier’s case, the producer was stripped of his Oscars tickets and banned from attending, but he kept his nominee status and received an Oscar when the film was named Best Picture.
When TheWrap was first reached out to inquire about the Riseborough campaign in the wake of a Puck News article challenging the nomination, a source who asked not to be named said no one had filed a complaint about the film with the Academy. Two hours later, the Academy announced that it was investigating the campaign surrounding this year’s awards ceremony, without mentioning Riseborough by name.
Riseborough herself has not been charged with any campaign violations, making removal of her nomination an unlikely outcome when the AMPAS Board of Governors considers the case at its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.
With the ongoing investigation, the question of which rules, if any, were broken looms large. One Riseborough supporter, “Titanic” actress Frances Fisher, appears particularly vulnerable to discipline. She had initially started talking about the film in early January, writing in a January 9 article. to post on Instagram, “With multi-million dollar ad campaigns soaring, word of mouth about this #LowBudget masterpiece is piling up daily.”
in an instagram to post posted on January 14, two days after the Oscar vote, Fisher defended Riseborough again, noting that the actress would need 218 first-place votes to secure a Best Actress nomination. “It seems that Viola [Davis]michelle [Yeoh]Daniela [Deadwyler]and cat [Blanchett] they are a lock for your outstanding work,” he continued. “Watch ‘To Leslie’ on the Academy Screening Room app and join the wave of support to honor Andrea’s excellent work.” Interestingly, that “rush of support” phrase, featured prominently in other celeb posts, was included here.
In a subsequent to posthe again floated the idea of putting Riseborough over Blanchett, Yeoh, Davis and Deadwyler on his ballot “because I think all the other ladies are a lock.”
Also, a now removed to post on the official “To Leslie” Instagram page quoted critic Richard Roeper as saying that while he liked Blanchett’s performance in “Tár”, he preferred Riseborough’s.
According to the Academy 2023 campaign regulationmembers are expressly prohibited from referring to other nominees during the campaign.
Academy members found to have “‘highlighted’ the competition by name or title” may be subject to a one-year membership suspension for the first offense and expulsion for subsequent offenses. Mentions include social media, including Facebook and Twitter, though it’s unclear if Instagram is up to the same standard. (The Academy provided no additional comment, and Fisher’s representative declined to comment on her behalf.)
As the Academy mulls over the campaign and the board prepares to meet next Tuesday, “To Leslie” is making the most of the spotlight. The film will return to select theaters in North America this weekend, with a possible UK release to follow. Exhibitors, not Momentum, are leading the charge, with the Academy’s response to the controversy being a major variable.
“I’m sure there isn’t a meeting between the filmmakers and Momentum, like ‘How do we take advantage of this?’ That’s not happening,” the source with inside knowledge said. “Momentum is like, ‘Good for you. You did what you did, now live with the consequences for now.’”
