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Ziggy Kozlowski is a partner in Block-Korenbrot Public Relations, an LA-based firm that specializes in movie and TV awards campaigns and has shepherded such films as Howards End, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Capote, and Crash to Oscar wins. “Part of the problem,” he says, “is that lately some of the big Hollywood hits like The Dark Knight, which were also critically acclaimed, didn’t get nominated in the best-film category. This might be a move toward more populist, less elitist choices. With ten nominees in the final category of the show the Academy might be hoping that the winner won’t be such a foregone conclusion. The change also might make it possible for a foreign-language film to be nominated for Best Picture.”
A publicity executive in the New York office of one of Hollywood’s oldest studios, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “I was shocked—I hadn’t even heard any rumors about it. Change happens so slowly at the Academy; it took years to get the Best Animated Film category introduced, and then out of the blue they announce this expansion. God only knows how that’s going to affect the awards campaigns, but it will be great for the trades like Variety and the Hollywood Reporter”—which carry “for your consideration” ads aimed at voters. “The question is, when you extend the field to ten, will moviegoers see all ten? It’s hard enough to see five. Then again, maybe the extra five on the list will be ones people have already seen. Right now, Up and Star Trek stand out as two that might be nominated.”
