Oscars

[Julie's Haircut]

I don't get why she is getting in trouble for his mistake. I've only heard of Cullinan being involved in the mistake.

I'm guessing she's in trouble because she didn't immediately rush the stage before the La La Land people began their acceptance speeches.

That's what I read.. both partners waited too long. PWC issued an apology for their partners' delay in immediately rectifying the situation.

I asked my wife her thought on it (she's a partner with one of the other Big 4 firms). She's guessing that PwC will be doing their work next year for free. It's unlikely they'll lose the job, however. She doesn't think it's a big revenue client - more of a prestige thing than anything.

I read that the Academy Awards are not even one of their top 100 clients. It's totally a prestige account.

 

[bcla]

Just checked 39 States do not have the 150 hours requirement, CA is one of those 39. It did appear taking the exam and licensing have different requirements.

Not sure what the requirements were at the time Ruiz would have taken the tests. Apparently California has changed the rules in 2014, and my relative did this around 2008. It was maybe four different tests. I thought that the test results expired, but I'm not sure now. Certainly passing the exam wasn't enough to be licensed.

I looked up the new rules, and apparently they now require 150 semester units, which is typically five years. So just having a bachelors degree along isn't enough without additional education. Seems like a real pain now, although my relative had two masters degrees including an MBA.

 

[DizBelle]

I don't get why she is getting in trouble for his mistake. I've only heard of Cullinan being involved in the mistake.

I agree on this. Totally ridiculous that she is getting backlash from this.

 

[DaisyJ]

PwC has had to hire bodyguards for the two accountants and their families after they were inundated with death threats. Really, people? Some people are out of their minds stupid.

 

[Heidict]

People are really going overboard about this whole Best Picture screw up. It sucked, but my goodness, it was not that big of a deal.

Shirley Maclaine is whining about how she is "still processing the horror". Really? Horror? OMG, talk about being a drama queen and over exaggerating. You would have thought someone opened fire on the stage. HORROR!!

They really need to get a grip.

 

[DizBelle]

Putting the mistake of Beatty having the wrong envelope aside, what about how it was handled on stage. Does anyone else think it was weird how Fred Berger and/or Jordan Horowitz (which one was it or was it a team effort?) announced that Moonlight actually won?

Basically, he was at the microphone and said "We lost by the way" and, almost as an aside, he said "Moonlight, you won". Moonlight's moment didn't have to be as demolished as it was.

Why didn't they stop the whole thing, send La la land back to their seats and then do the whole envelope opening thing again? That would have been the right way to handle it. Why did the La la crew even know Moonlight was supposed to have won and have the opportunity to announce it? They just should have been told "Sorry, there's been a mistake, you were not actually the winner. Please return to your seats." And THEN they should have announced Moonlight with a new opening the envelope presentation.

Do you think if I go to Hollywood, they'll hire me to be the stage manager for the Oscars?

ETA: I watched the video again. It was Fred Berger that says "we lost by the way" and then Jordan Horowitz comes to the microphone to make the lackluster announcement that Moonlight won. I really think he should have done better than this. I think his anger came through and that ruined it even more than it was.

 

[Planogirl]

I would imagine that the La La Land people were very disappointed and somewhat flustered too. I thought that group was pretty nice considering the circumstances.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Putting the mistake of Beatty having the wrong envelope aside, what about how it was handled on stage. Does anyone else think it was weird how Fred Berger and/or Jordan Horowitz (which one was it or was it a team effort?) announced that Moonlight actually won?

Basically, he was at the microphone and said "We lost by the way" and, almost as an aside, he said "Moonlight, you won". Moonlight's moment didn't have to be as demolished as it was.

Why didn't they stop the whole thing, send La la land back to their seats and then do the whole envelope opening thing again? That would have been the right way to handle it. Why did the La la crew even know Moonlight was supposed to have won and have the opportunity to announce it? They just should have been told "Sorry, there's been a mistake, you were not actually the winner. Please return to your seats." And THEN they should have announced Moonlight with a new opening the envelope presentation.

Do you think if I go to Hollywood, they'll hire me to be the stage manager for the Oscars?

I thought his response was pretty gruff, but otoh, I can imagine he was pretty p'd off at the time. And understandably so. So I give him a pass for that moment.

 

[DizBelle]

I thought his response was pretty gruff, but otoh, I can imagine he was pretty p'd off at the time. And understandably so. So I give him a pass for that moment.

I don't give him a pass. Just because he's p'd off doesn't make it ok to just squash someone else's moment.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't give him a pass. Just because he's p'd off doesn't make it ok to just squash someone else's moment.

It was momentarily their moment and that was squashed too. There were no good solutions to this mess.

 

[bcla]

I agree on this. Totally ridiculous that she is getting backlash from this.

Part of her duties included stepping in quickly if the wrong name was announced. Same with her partner. PwC said there were procedures in place that weren't followed, and it should be pretty obvious that there was supposed to be a procedure to follow to minimize the impact of a mistake.

 

[soccerdad72]

Not sure what the requirements were at the time Ruiz would have taken the tests. Apparently California has changed the rules in 2014, and my relative did this around 2008. It was maybe four different tests. I thought that the test results expired, but I'm not sure now. Certainly passing the exam wasn't enough to be licensed.

I looked up the new rules, and apparently they now require 150 semester units, which is typically five years. So just having a bachelors degree along isn't enough without additional education. Seems like a real pain now, although my relative had two masters degrees including an MBA.

Pretty much all accounting programs at schools are 150 hours now, building in an MBA program (I would call it 'MBA Lite') into the program.

Requirements for being a licensed CPA vary by state, but typically it's the proper number of accounting courses (not necessarily an accounting degree, as some finance and other business majors can qualify), plus a set amount of relevant work experience along with passing the CPA Exam (4 parts) and completing the Ethics exam as well.

Maintaining a CPA license includes completing a number of CPE (continuing education) credits each year as well. For example, I passed the CPA exam in 1997 and was certified for the next 3 years, but didn't complete my CPEs (I didn't really need to be certified anymore), so let my certification go inactive.

 

[SMD]

Putting the mistake of Beatty having the wrong envelope aside, what about how it was handled on stage. Does anyone else think it was weird how Fred Berger and/or Jordan Horowitz (which one was it or was it a team effort?) announced that Moonlight actually won?

Basically, he was at the microphone and said "We lost by the way" and, almost as an aside, he said "Moonlight, you won". Moonlight's moment didn't have to be as demolished as it was.

Why didn't they stop the whole thing, send La la land back to their seats and then do the whole envelope opening thing again? That would have been the right way to handle it. Why did the La la crew even know Moonlight was supposed to have won and have the opportunity to announce it? They just should have been told "Sorry, there's been a mistake, you were not actually the winner. Please return to your seats." And THEN they should have announced Moonlight with a new opening the envelope presentation.

Do you think if I go to Hollywood, they'll hire me to be the stage manager for the Oscars?

ETA: I watched the video again. It was Fred Berger that says "we lost by the way" and then Jordan Horowitz comes to the microphone to make the lackluster announcement that Moonlight won. I really think he should have done better than this. I think his anger came through and that ruined it even more than it was.

Because after sitting there for 4 hours waiting for that moment the nominees are supposed to think up on the fly how to handle a situation that has never happened before? Let's ask the producers of Moonlight if they actually care now that they have their actual Oscars.

 

[pryncess527]

Because after sitting there for 4 hours waiting for that moment the nominees are supposed to think up on the fly how to handle a situation that has never happened before? Let's ask the producers of Moonlight if they actually care now that they have their actual Oscars.

I have no idea what the protocol is, but one article I read said there were absolutely protocols in place for if that type of mistake were made, and those protocols were not followed.
I'm not prepared to say one way or another if she deserves blame here -- I have no idea what procedures were in place

 

[Heidict]

Putting the mistake of Beatty having the wrong envelope aside, what about how it was handled on stage. Does anyone else think it was weird how Fred Berger and/or Jordan Horowitz (which one was it or was it a team effort?) announced that Moonlight actually won?

Basically, he was at the microphone and said "We lost by the way" and, almost as an aside, he said "Moonlight, you won". Moonlight's moment didn't have to be as demolished as it was.

Why didn't they stop the whole thing, send La la land back to their seats and then do the whole envelope opening thing again? That would have been the right way to handle it. Why did the La la crew even know Moonlight was supposed to have won and have the opportunity to announce it? They just should have been told "Sorry, there's been a mistake, you were not actually the winner. Please return to your seats." And THEN they should have announced Moonlight with a new opening the envelope presentation.

Do you think if I go to Hollywood, they'll hire me to be the stage manager for the Oscars?

ETA: I watched the video again. It was Fred Berger that says "we lost by the way" and then Jordan Horowitz comes to the microphone to make the lackluster announcement that Moonlight won. I really think he should have done better than this. I think his anger came through and that ruined it even more than it was.

I think it's pretty easy to Monday morning quarterback this to death. I imagine it was pure confusion, disappointment and uncertainty on how to handle this. I don't think anyone on that stage has dealt with this before and didn't know how to deal with it when it occurred.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I don't give him a pass. Just because he's p'd off doesn't make it ok to just squash someone else's moment.

I don't know too many people who always act perfectly when they're really upset.

 

[pryncess527]

I don't know too many people who always act perfectly when they're really upset.

You should meet more DISers in person

 

[SMD]

I have no idea what the protocol is, but one article I read said there were absolutely protocols in place for if that type of mistake were made, and those protocols were not followed.
I'm not prepared to say one way or another if she deserves blame here -- I have no idea what procedures were in place

I was responding to a criticism of the La La Land producers for how they handled it when they were told on stage. The reason the second accountant isn't going back is because she took so long to say something. If either had spoken up sooner maybe La La Land would have been stopped before reaching the stage or before the speeches started. Maybe stopping them while they were coming up the steps and sending them back would have been worse for all involved. Ultimately, Moonlight won the Oscar and got their Oscar. I doubt they're lamenting much about how it was announced.

 

[pryncess527]

I was responding to a criticism of the La La Land producers for how they handled it when they were told on stage. The reason the second accountant isn't going back is because she took so long to say something. If either had spoken up sooner maybe La La Land would have been stopped before reaching the stage or before the speeches started. Maybe stopping them while they were coming up the steps and sending them back would have been worse for all involved. Ultimately, Moonlight won the Oscar and got their Oscar. I doubt they're lamenting much about how it was announced.

Im sorry, I misunderstood. One of the accountants is also taking heat and some didn't get why since she wasn't the one who handed the wrong envelope. I thought you were referring to her -- my bad

 

[bcla]

Apparently both of the accountants froze and had to be pushed out to correct the mistake. Cullinan even discussed the procedure in case of a mistake the day before. They were fully prepped on what to do, but the execution just wasn't there.

http://www.thewrap.com/oscar-stage-manager-pwc-accountants-incompetence/

Gary Natoli, the veteran Oscars stage manager who was in the midst of the chaos on Sunday night when “La La Land” was mistakenly announced as Best Picture, told TheWrap on Wednesday that the two PwC accountants entrusted with the envelopes “froze” when things went wrong.

“I’m sure they’re very lovely people, but they just didn’t have the disposition for this,” Natoli said. “You need somebody who’s going to be confident and unafraid.”

Making matters worse, Natoli said that he and stage manager John Esposito, who stood in the stage-right wings next to PwC partner Brian Cullinan, had a conversation with Cullinan the day before the Oscars about the protocol if an incorrect winner is announced.

“We don’t usually talk about that,” Natoli explained. “But I guess Brian had done an interview where he was asked about it, so he came up to John and me and told us that in the interview, he said, ‘Well, we would tell the stage managers and check with each other and react.’ And then he said to us, ‘Is that what we do?’

“I said, ‘If you know who the winner is, you don’t need to check with each other. You need to immediately go out and rectify the situation, ideally before the wrong winners get to the mic.’ And he said, ‘OK, good, that’s what we thought.'”​