It's called the most glamorous job in accounting. For one brief period
each year, the accountants assigned to the job are sought-after celebrities,
sometimes fielding hundreds of requests for interviews. Some of these lucky
accountants have even had the opportunity to appear on television in front
of a billion people.
Yes. That's right. It's not a typo. A billion people.
You see, somebody has to count the award ballots for the Academy Awards,
the annual award show presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences. Some lucky accountant has to be backstage to hand out envelopes to
dozens of high-profile stars at the gala event of the year. And let's not
forget the television cameras. Sometime before or during the broadcast,
there's a pretty good chance that a roving camera will put an accountant
on television in front of an audience of a billion people.
And for the past 66 years these accountants have all been from one
company. Well, two companies if you count the fact that there was a merger
a few years ago. The company responsible for counting the ballots for the
Oscars is PricewaterhouseCoopers (formerly Price Waterhouse, before its
merger with Coopers & Lybrand).
A Long Association
The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 to honor film
achievement in the 1927/1928 season. For the first six years, the Board of
Governors for the fledgling film organization tabulated the votes. In 1935,
the organization commissioned the accountants of Price Waterhouse to conduct
the balloting to ensure the integrity of the voting process. The famous
envelope system, with the envelopes sealed with red wax, was implemented in
1941 to preserve the secrecy of the awards.
The year 2000 marks the 72nd Academy Awards. It also marks
the 66th year in which Price Waterhouse or its descendant
organization, PricewaterhouseCoopers, has been responsible for the
balloting.
During this time, only ten accountants have overseen the counting of the
ballots. This year, Greg Garrison and Lisa Pierozzi will be responsible for
supervising the balloting process.
Counting the Ballots
Before you can collect ballots, you have to have voters. Who's allowed
to vote for the awards?
The answer is that only the 6000 or so qualified members of the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are allowed to vote. Membership in the
organization is by invitation only. The voting membership includes only
those professionals who have a role in the making of films, i.e. -
individuals on the periphery of the industry such as lawyers and accountants
are not eligible. The organization includes directors, cinematographers
and other film professionals in addition to the actors with which most
people are familiar.
The ballots for nominations are mailed to qualified voting members of
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences several months before the
show. The votes are tabulated and the nominations are announced about six
weeks before the show.
The final ballots are sent out at least a month before the award show is
to be held so that the voters will have time to complete the ballots and
return them. This year, the process went awry when the ballots for the
California residents of the academy were misdirected and lost by the US
Postal Service. A second set of ballots was quickly sent out (with yellow
return envelopes to distinguish them from the white return envelopes of
the original ballots).
The returned ballots are received directly by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Behind locked doors, at an undisclosed location, a team led by Greg Garrison
and Lisa Pierozzi manually tabulates the results. Each night, work products
are locked in a safe to ensure that there are no security leaks. Partners
Greg Garrison and Lisa Pierozzi will be ultimately responsible for checking
the results and sealing them in envelopes (actually, two sets of
duplicate envelopes).
The two accountants are also required to memorize the results in case
something happens to the award envelopes before or during the awards show.
Finally, Greg Garrison and Lisa Pierozzi will travel to the Academy
Awardsin separate cars following two entirely different routes.
At the show, they will be back-stage to hand out envelopes just before
the presenters go out on stage to give out the awards.
The Stakes Are High
The balloting process for the Academy Awards may seem complex, but the
stakes are high on Oscar night. A report from Booz Allen & Hamilton
indicates that the value of the Best Picture Award exceeds 100 million in
"incremental box office." The exposure a film gets on Oscar night can turn
box office losers into hits, or turn hit movies into box office monsters.
The impact on the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters can be
equally substantial.
But remember, behind the scenes of the Academy Awards, there are the
accountants who make it all possible by ensuring the integrity and secrecy
of the balloting process.
The accountants with the most glamorous job in the industry.
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