Oscar offers incentive to keep speeches brief

The best thing you could do if you win an Oscar is say ``Thank you.'' But even better than that is to simply say ``Thanks.''

But if you really, really, really have to be long-winded and thank everyone you have ever met from your accountant to producer Edward Zwick, himself a nominee for the film ''Traffic,'' and your wife and/or companion, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says it will give you room to do so on its Web site.

Gil Cates, the producer of televised Academy Awards ceremonies for the last 10 years, made the unprecedented offer at the annual Oscars nominees lunch on Monday at the Beverly Hills Hilton.

It was greeted with a long silence from a crowd of more than 100 nominees, including the likes of Russell Crowe (''Gladiator''), Tom Hanks (''Cast Away'') and Joan Allen (''The Contender''), and then laughter.

Cates said that after a winner has said thank you for a maximum of 45 seconds and is leaving the stage, ``You can hand us a list of all the people you want to thank.'' It will then be run on the the Official Academy Awards Web site under the winner's picture.

To press the point home - he showed the audience a test example in which, under Cates's photograph shown on a huge projection screen, he thanked the writers and director of the show which will be aired on March 25.

But whether anyone will follow his example is an open question. After all, as ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' director Ang Lee noted, ``With Oscar, everyone is watching. The world is watching.''

Links


Herald Online feature: Oscars

The Official Academy Awards website