27/1/2009: The Academy Bends its Rules

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to bend its rule regarding the maximum number of producers that could be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar when four producers of the film The Reader were listed on the credits form submitted for Oscar consideration.   Although the maximum allowed under the Academy’s rules was three – except in a rare and extraordinary circumstance – four producers were listed because Sidney Pollack and Anthony Minghella both died before filming was completed.   The other two producers nominated were Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris.   A fifth producer, Scott Rudin, was not eligible after having demanded his name be removed from the credits following a fight with Harvey Weinstein over release dates.

 A meeting of the Producers Branch Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences determined that the situation regarding The Reader, met the Academy’s definition of ‘rare and extraordinary circumstance’ and ruled that the four producers could all stand as nominees.

 The Academy's ‘three maximum’ ruling came into being after a small army of producers mounted the stage to receive their statuettes for Shakespeare in Love in 1998.   The ruling was absolute until protests from producers of Little Miss Sunshine in 2006 when the ‘rare and extraordinary’ exception was added. [ADD] 

Further Reading:

2009

USA: 2009