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Monday, February 27, 2017

OSCARS 2017: Price Waterhouse Coopers Statement and Apology about Wrong Best Picture Envelope


OSCARS 2017: Price Waterhouse Coopers Statement and Apology about Wrong Best Picture Envelope


Epic Academy Awards flub: What went wrong




The apology
PwC apologized to the casts of both films, as well as Beatty and Dunaway, for the "error."
"The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected," the firm said in a statement. "We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.
PwC has in the past portrayed its involvement in the Oscars as a symbol of its integrity.
"PwC's role in the Oscars balloting process represents the firm's lasting legacy of utmost accuracy and confidentiality," Ruiz said in a statement issued before the 2015 ceremony.

On Sunday, Cullinan's twitter feed was filled with photos taken backstage at the event -- including best supporting actress Viola Davis and best actress Emma Stone.
Later, after PwC issued its apology, all Oscar night tweets disappeared from Cullinan's account.
"We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and [host] Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation," PwC said in its statement.

Cullinan, the managing partner for PwC's business in Southern California, explained the envelope logistics in an interview published on Medium on February 10.

"The producers decide what the order of the awards will be. We each have a full set. I have all 24 envelopes in my briefcase; Martha has all 24 in hers. We stand on opposite sides of the stage, right off-screen, for the entire evening, and we each hand the respective envelope to the presenter. It doesn't sound very complicated, but you have to make sure you're giving the presenter the right envelope," he said.
It's not clear why two sets of envelopes are needed, but security appears to be a major concern for PwC. The briefcases used are kept under lock and key, for example.


And the loser is ... PricewaterhouseCoopers

The global accounting firm has apologized for the embarrassing envelope mix-up that resulted in "La La Land" being wrongly announced as best picture at the Oscars.
It's still not clear exactly how PwC, which has administered the Oscars balloting process for more than 80 years, allowed the wrong red envelope to be carried on stage in a snafu that spoiled Hollywood's biggest moment of the year.
PwC says it maintains control over "all aspects" of the Academy's voting process.
The firm has sole custody of all votes, and is responsible for keeping the results confidential. Once the ballots have been tabulated, two senior accountants memorize every winner, and then prepare two briefcases with the envelopes used by presenters on the big night.

The two accountants -- Martha Ruiz and Brian Cullinan -- carry the briefcases to the ceremony via "separate, secret routes." The pair stand backstage and hand envelopes to award presenters before they walk onstage.
It was a breakdown in the final stage of this process that led presenter Faye Dunaway to announce "La La Land" as the winner of cinema's most prestigious prize, only for "Moonlight" to be confirmed as the true champion moments later.
What went wrong?

The first sign that something was amiss came when Warren Beatty took an extended pause before showing the card to his fellow presenter. Dunaway went ahead, pronouncing "La La Land" as best picture.

The cast and crew of the musical reacted in typical fashion: They bounded up to the stage and began issuing a flurry of "thank yous" to supporters and family members. A man wearing a headset and holding an envelope then appeared onstage.
It fell to "La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz to explain that something had gone very wrong.

"I'm sorry, there's a mistake. 'Moonlight,' you guys won best picture."
"This is not a joke," he said. He flashed the real card at the crowd: "Moonlight," it read.

Beatty suggested that he had been given the wrong envelope.
"I want to tell you what happened," Beatty said before leaving the stage. "I opened the envelope and it said 'Emma Stone, La La Land.' That's why I took such a long look at Faye."





Cullinan, the managing partner for PwC's business in Southern California, explained the envelope logistics in an interview published on Medium on February 10.

What It Feels Like To Count Oscar Votes
A behind-the-scenes look at the world’s biggest awards show

Courtesy of https://medium.com/art-science/what-it-feels-like-to-count-oscar-votes-f89a38efdf1c#.s3cauuvu2

As we gear up for the Oscars on February 26th, we’re sharing an exclusive look behind-the-scenes through our Making the Oscars series.
Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz are partners at the professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. They are also the only two people who know the list of Oscar winners before the rest of the world. In this post, they reflect on PwC’s history at the Academy Awards and why theirs is the coolest job an accountant can have.
How does one become an Oscars balloting leader?
Brian Cullinan: Both Martha and I are based in Los Angeles, but that’s not the main criteria necessarily. We both work heavily with entertainment companies. My background is in assurance and Martha works mostly with tax clients. When my predecessor retired from the firm, he asked if I’d be willing to take over his role, and of course I said yes. This will be the fourth consecutive year I have been involved, and Martha joined the team as one of 

the lead partners just a couple of years ago.
Martha Ruiz: Prior to becoming one of the Oscar ballot leaders, I had been involved as one of the team members for a number of years. So I had some history behind the overall process, and was fortunate enough to be asked to take on this role.
BC: This is the 89th Academy Awards and it’s PwC’s 83rd year doing the ballot counting. During that entire time, we’ve had two partners lead the process in order to ensure redundancy in everything we do.
In the 83 years we’ve been doing it, I’m the 13th partner to do it and Martha’s the 14th.
We have a lot of continuity. We keep the teams intact as much as we can over time.

What was your first Oscars experience like?
BC: I knew about PwC’s role in the Oscars before I even joined PwC 32 years ago. It’s surreal to walk down the red carpet carrying the briefcase with the winning envelopes in it, doing interviews with the global press and being part of this line of well-known actors, actresses, producers and directors on the red carpet.
It’s one of the coolest jobs that an accountant can have.
MR: My first year, I didn’t realize until the end of the show all that had happened that day because I was focused on making sure that I followed every single protocol. I distinctly remember, after the last envelope was handed to the presenter, it was like a flashback — “Wow that was great, that was exciting.” — but as each minute was passing during the day of the show, I was laser-focused.
How does it feel once you’ve delivered the last envelope?
MR: As soon as that last award is announced, Brian and I meet onstage and head over to get something to drink very quickly at the Governors Ball.
BC: Some people ask us if we are relieved once the last envelope is handed out and the show is concluded, suggesting that we have no further secrets to keep.
In reality, there are a number of secrets that we keep forever.
Some of those include: who got second? Or, how close was it? Those questions we never answer. It doesn’t end with the last envelope.
What does the ballot-counting process entail?
MR: The ballot-counting process is still done very manually. Although members have the option to vote online, we convert to a paper process to do the tabulation. We divide the counting amongst a number of team members in such a way that no one will have a significant percentage of the total. Brian and I will then get everything together so that we’re the only ones that see the total count for each of the categories. Ideally, we like to have everything completed several days before the show. That last day is when Brian and I will start memorizing the winners of each category and start quizzing each other.
We make sure that we don’t have any of the final winners written down anywhere.
It’s that extra measure to make sure it really is only to our memory at that point, to make sure that everything’s accurate.
BC: The show is at the end of February this year. We’ll probably start work on next year’s Oscars in March. It’s almost a full year-round process. Some months are lighter than others, but it builds all the way until the show.

What is your role during the show?
BC: The producers decide what the order of the awards will be. We each have a full set. I have all 24 envelopes in my briefcase; Martha has all 24 in hers. We stand on opposite sides of the stage, right off-screen, for the entire evening, and we each hand the respective envelope to the presenter. It doesn’t sound very complicated, but you have to make sure you’re giving the presenter the right envelope.
PwC has been involved in the Oscars ballot count for decades. What has changed over the years? What has stayed the same?
BC: I can say for sure that our view of our role has stayed the same — how critical it is to be accurate and keep it confidential. We check things dozens of times, recounts and double-checks. We’ll have staff go back two and three times to make sure, and then Martha and I will review and recount to ensure there are no differences between what we have and they had. So far, there’s never been a problem.
MR: I think online voting has been a positive change because you certainly see more members have the ability to vote right until polls close. What’s stayed the same: the protocols, the procedures and the length to which we go to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the process.

Do you have a favorite Oscar moment?
BC: A couple of years ago, when Neil Patrick Harris was the host, he set up his Oscar predictions at the beginning of the show, had them in our briefcase and was going to reveal them at the end. The briefcase was under lock and key. Through the rehearsals, they told me my role was to hold the key and then, at the end of the show, right before Best Picture was announced, I would go on stage and hand Neil the key without saying anything.
Then the show came, we got to that part at the very end, and just before I was up to go onstage, one of the stage managers came over and attached a microphone to my lapel and put a battery in my pocket.
He told me that Neil had changed his mind earlier that day and that when I went out there, he was going to ask me a few questions. Of course, I had no idea what he was going to ask me. I had about two minutes to think about it, but in the end it turned out great.
MR: That first year, we were taking some pictures on the red carpet and we got photo-bombed by John Legend because he saw the briefcase and wanted to be a part of the picture. We have a couple of those that happen from time to time.
When Brian and I walk down the red carpet, people know who we are simply because we’re holding the briefcase.
BC: Martha raises a good point. I think, a lot of times, we’re amazed because celebrities will come over to us and ask if they could have their picture taken with us, which is kind of a 180 from what normally happens.


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