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EXCLUSIVE: Just because he’s been banished from Sunday’s Academy Awards doesn’t mean Hurt Locker producer Nicolas Chartier won’t have any place to watch. Instead. I’ve learned he’ll be with a crowd of people who’ll make him feel like a winner. The Voltage Pictures chief and his family will be the guests of honor at a viewing party that is being put together by WME Global chief Graham Taylor and Blue Valentine producer Lynnette Howell, who is Graham’s wife. Taylor wasn’t involved with the film, but I understand he hated the prospect of an indie filmmaker getting ostracized for being overly enthusiastic about his film.
At a recent lunch, Taylor promised Chartier to provide the fallback plan should the Academy take back Chartier’s 5 Oscar tickets, one of whose recipients were to include the producer’s mother whom he had flown in from France for the big night. Once today’s Academy announcement came down barring Chartier, he e-mailed Taylor and the party was on.
Taylor and Howell will host the bash in their Venice home. They’ve hired a bartender, they’re ordering French food, they’re renting a red carpet for their entryway, and they’re putting together a guest list of 100 who’ll dress casually so Chartier will shine in his tux. Taylor is even looking for a beret for the dog.
It will be interesting to see if others rally around Chartier. Several Oscar vets have told me in recent weeks of others’ lobbying transgressions that seemed worse than Chartier’s overheated memo. So perhaps he deserves to dress up and salvage his Sunday Academy Awards night.
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I’m on the side of a filmmaker before the Academy any day. Chartier payed for the film, for Christ’s sake. As far as I’m concerned, the only legit awards ceremony is the one happening at Graham’s house.
Excellent news! Support also the Facebook Group page: “Support Nicolas Chartier”. So much hypocrisy is unbelievable. Good luck for Sunday Nicolas.
Yikes, someone tries to cheat in a contest for the recognition of hard work and excellence and on top of that bashes other competitors to promote their own narcissim and that is ok? Wow, you must love Wall Street.
Nicolas Chartier may not be the best diplomat you could ever find, but whether it’s the Oscars or any other ceremonies of some sorts, it’s all about cronyism; c’mon who’s a dupe here?
So Chartier’s gained additional publicity, and WME gets a piece of it too! To paraphrase Voltaire “bad publicity is still good publicity”.
With the increase of multiple partners involved in one single production, one’d rather be aware that
there’s no such thing as objective voting. You vote for your classmates at BHHS, UCLA…, your pals at Fox, SPE…, your business associates etc. You don’t vote for a film, a performance and whatnot. Chartier is generating more buzz than his “little” film could have ever hoped for. What’s new? That’s Hollywood!
It’s disgraceful that the Academy has banned him from the ceremony. As someone who covers the Oscar race year-round, I can tell you that his transgression is small fries compared to some of the stuff that goes on, and if the Academy wants to ban him then they should ban about 20 other people as well.
Here’s a piece of unsolicited advice for James Cameron: The magnanimous thing to do — which would go a long way to helping his own rep — would be for him (the “victim”) to ask AMPAS to pardon Chartier (the “perpetrator”). Whether AMPAS says yes *or* no, he’d look generous/above it all. And, really, does keeping Chartier away really accomplish anything anyway?
Academy = LAME.
Love that there will be a private event in his honor. Good for him!
This is totally hypocritical of the Academy, for many, many reasons.
Over at Awards Daily, they’ve posted an article about how Harvey Weinstein pulled a shady campaign tactic for GANGS OF NEW YORK but was still allowed to attend the Oscars as a producer. Frank Pierson, then AMAPS president, called the move an “outright violation of Academy rules.”
http://www.awardsdaily.com/?p=20075
If this picture were released by a major studio do you think he would be barred? I don’t think so
He’s not being “ostracized for being overly enthusiastic”, he’s paid the price for bad-mouthing rival filmmakers. To put it another way, if Harvey or Cameron made the same sort of comments about “Hurt Locker”, everyone would be up in arms. Chartier helped make a great film, but last week he acted like classless amateur grasping for gold. The Academy made the right decision to discipline him. Maybe in his future attempts to round up votes he’ll stick to talking up his own movie rather than denigrating the work of fellow artists.
I guess the double standard does not bother you.
I would not be surprised to learn that his infractions were more than just being “enthusiastic”. His MO is breaking protocol, rules, and disregarding contracts. He’s a man without scruples.
This story seems to have run its course, but what the guy did was wrong. He basically made the race about two movies, making it seem like all the other movies are chopped liver and not worth the Academy’s time.
Scruples?
In Hollywood?
Are you kidding me?
This is Hol-ly-wood,
Not Dis-ney-land….
And come to think of it…..
smile = me
Good for him!
Who cares?
The Academy is such a bunch of blowhards.
Come on Nikke don’t be so naive – although it’s very noble of Graham to throw a party for Chartier because he “hates the prospect of an indie filmmaker being ostracized for being overly enthusiastic”, it really has nothing to do with that. Instead, it has everything to do with Taylor seeing this as an opportunity to score with a financier who may one day help get one of Taylor’s indie movies off the ground, and possibly for Taylor or WME to sign an Oscar winning producer. This also has nothing to do with “indie producing”. Once a producer has a film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar – are they really still considered an indie producer? Don’t think so. The Oscar is a cash cow and an opportunity to get bigger films made with bigger budgets – like Studio pics. Basically the indie producer no longer has to beg for financing and P&A. Chartier is a financier and was stupid to grandstand claiming naivete. Too bad! He fucked up. He makes creative producers, marketing pros, and publicists look bad. You can’t tell me he didn’t think there were Academy rules when he has known since last year his movie was the front runner for Best Picture. Good for Graham in seizing the PR opportunity here but it’s really about raising Graham’s and WME’s profile with the attention on Chartier, and his likely win, rather than really caring about Chartier being banned from the ceremony. The media will be staked outside of Graham’s house to get the first soundbite from a producer who has won an Oscar but was banned from accepting it the the ceremony. Sounds like a movie plot! Please! You are the queen of all cynics, Nikki. Let’s call a spade a spade.
Alan Jazeera, maybe you should curb your own cynicism.
Graham and Nicholas have been friends for years and worked on several films together…
GT throws great parties… you’re just pissed you’re not invited. HAHA!
Alan J — that was one of the dopiest posts I’ve read. The only people Chartier makes look bad are adolescents like you (at least I hope you are) who write from a profound state of ignorance and bile. When you get older and the hormones have settled, take another look at what you wrote. Hopefully you will have met actual indy filmmakers by that point and will understand the stupidity inherent in your previous remarks.
Chartier’s actions have been blown out all off proportion. It’s ridiculous that he’s being penalized for the same enthusiasm that helped get the film made. Good on Taylor for laying on the party. I’m sure that there will be many lobbying round Chartier.
Class Act.
GT once again shows he’s a man of class.
Wondering if he’ll allow smoking at the party in honor of Nic’s Frenchness
Would love to see this party get proper news coverage when Hurt Locker wins..
Makes me glad and proud to be attending the Indie Spirit awards and hopeful that some good could come out of this and we as indie’s revolt from this system…. just saying..
That’s great what they are doing. I hope they find that beret!!
This is sweet and exceedingly silly on Graham’s part, and so I like it
Completely agreed that as oscar-pumping transgressions go NC’s was relatively middle of the road.
That said, the ‘don’t slam another film’ rule exists for a reason. We don’t want oscar season to resemble a political campaign any more than it ready does.
And it’s a slippery slope so best treated in a binary manner. Unfortunately for NC, his stuff was made (very) public and so couldn’t be ignored alas.
This party sounds horribly french, but its well deserved. Beret’s all around!
Graham Taylor is a class act, a true gem in an industry full of misanthropes.
they made a great movie, they’re entitled to party
I didn’t receive Chartier’s email, but it’s pretty obvious from the vindictiveness of the reaction that the film he “disparaged” had to have been Avatar. What other film’s director would be so narcissistic as to so desperately *need* to shoot a fly with an elephant gun?
Do you any evidence that suggests that the Academy’s response (right or wrong) was at Jim’s behest/urging?
Graham actually gives a shit about films, film makers and quality. He’s done a ton of work with Nicholas over the years and they’ll continue to do what they do together; namely work their asses off to get hard to make movies made. Every once in awhile, one of those films does the impossible. It’s too bad they have to celebrate it in the same manner they celebrate the films that don’t get recognized, but knowing Graham, he’d throw a party for any film he’s championed and fought for regardless of a silly snub. He’s a fantastic agent, Nicholas has worked hard doing his thing for a long time. Wish them both the best.
Good for Graham and Nicolas. And yes, there may be some gladhanding going on there, but so what – the whole point of the Oscars is to gladhand with the winners. I know both those guys, and I wish them well. Maybe I’ll wear a beret that night in Nic’s honor.
This thing is SO overblown compared to some of the past campaign scandals – not least of which the 2005 scandal where the Academy itself strung along five films (including two studios) with a category they had no intention of ever honoring. I just wrote a piece about it on the front page of FilmThreat.com
I can’t believe the academy did this. So much worse bs has been done by studio publicity departments over the years… sub rosa. He so deserves to be at the Awards. How many times does a producer get to do this. This is the pettiest ugliest most anti-outsider anti-studio overblown nonsense I’ve seen in 25 years in the business. Mechanic and Shankman, not exactly industry elders should rescind this unkindness immediately. Neither of them have ever put their money, reputation, let alone their house on the line for a picture of this quality.