SAG campaigns: Who sent DVD screeners
Looks like you better bet your ranch on Julie Christie ("Away from Her"), not Ellen Page ("Juno"), to win the SAG award for best actress this Sunday. Turns out Lionsgate sent out DVD screeners of "Away from Her" to the full SAG membership — 100,000 voters — and Fox Searchlight did not do same for "Juno."
Last year the screeners played a big role in who won. Every movie — except one — that sent DVDs to the full membership ended up claiming an award at SAG or the Oscars or both: "The Queen" (best actress SAG and Oscar), "Little Miss Sunshine" (best supporting actor Oscar for Alan Arkin; SAG prize for best ensemble) and "The Departed" (Oscar for best picture). The lone shutout among aggressive campaigners: "Venus," starring SAG and Oscar best-actor nominee Peter O'Toole.
Two years ago Lionsgate became the first studio ever to send DVD screeners to the full membership, a campaign move that was considered bold and outrageous, but it paid off with a SAG ensemble prize plus an upset for best pic at the Oscars, of course. Reaching out so aggressively to SAG is considered to be such a shrewd Oscar move because it canvasses one of the largest core groups of Hollywood creativity and one that also comprises the largest single branch of academy members (1,300 members). Campaigners send DVDs to that academy branch separately, but they can only send one copy, according to the rules. Smart campaigners wish to keep clobbering Hollywooders with copies in order to make sure they watch it. Two years ago I remember filmmaker Don Roos ("The Opposite of Sex") gasping to me, "I belong to so many different guilds and unions that I now think I've received six DVDs of 'Crash'!"
"Crash" had an edge over rivals because it had come out early in 2005. It already had run its course in theaters and rolled out with its commercial DVD at Oscar time. Lionsgate could send the cheap, regular ones to voters ($5 each to manufacture and ship), instead of the special watermarked version ($20) that must be sent to guard against piracy when the movie is still new in theaters.
This year the DVDs sent to the full SAG membership were — again — all the cheap, commercial variety: "No Country for Old Men," "Into the Wild," "3:10 to Yuma," "Hairspray" and "Away from Her." Instead of sending the expensive watermarked DVDs of "There Will Be Blood," which recently debuted at Christmastime, to voters, Paramount Vantage sent vouchers to the full membership that could be redeemed at many theaters. The vouncher alternative has a few drawbacks. Only one is sent to each voter and the voucher it's not accepted at every theater showing "Blood," but the studio reports that a high percentage were redeemed.
Oh puh-leez Tom can we stop mentioning that GREAT ABERRATION which is crash (because we all know that the only reason the academy shunned BM was becuz most are homophobics and not because crash was a better movie than BM or even the other 3 contenders for BP for that matter!) and that Dreamgirls Debacle too? Just because you predicted that that possibly worst BP winner ever won doesn't mean that it was well-deserved or that every time you'll predict who will win just by trotting out that lucky guess on crash. And if I were you I shouldn't be boasting and gloating about it because it is a great tragedy that BM lost over a mediocre movie! Cheers!
Posted by: David | January 23, 2008 at 08:26 PM
And a DVD costs $5 dollars to manufacture and ship? That sounds way way way too high. Same for the watermarked ones at $20 dollars, most DVDs cost like $19 dollars and you know the retailers are making some kind of money of of them.
Posted by: AJ | January 23, 2008 at 06:14 PM
Good catch, seanflynn - tx for piping in. Fixed.
Posted by: Tom O'Neil | January 23, 2008 at 06:11 PM
Eddie Murphy won SAG supporting actor last year.
Posted by: seanflynn | January 23, 2008 at 06:07 PM