Posted on 03/20/2003 11:29:25 AM PST by Ed_NYC
War to cost millions in Oscar revenues
The spectre of war in Iraq is threatening to cost hundreds of millions of dollars in Oscars-generated revenue from services ranging from coveted advertising time to Botox shots for ageing movie stars.
Just days ahead of the scheduled ceremony that is usually the glamorous - and financially lucrative - high point of Hollywood's year, Oscars organisers are insisting that Sunday's show will still go on.
But they have refused to rule out postponing or even cancelling the show if war is raging in the Middle East amid fears that images of jewel-encrusted stars waltzing into the show would seem unseemly at a time of national crisis.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences spends around $US41 million ($69.79 million) on staging the show, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Jack Kyser, said.
This is far less than the $US54 million that studios are estimated to spend on pre-awards publicity for nominees.
After announcing on Wednesday that the signature red carpet fashion show would be slashed from this year's festivities in favour of a more sombre event, organisers, broadcasters and much of the city of Los Angeles is worried that the huge financial boon the Oscars usually brings may be lost.
"We estimate that the Oscar impact on the Los Angeles county (alone) is $US118 million annually," said Kyser.
The decision to scale down the globally televised show has already taken its toll, with broadcasters losing out on at least some of their valuable commercial air-time and with photo agencies robbed of one of their most lucrative products, the Oscars arrivals.
Now hundreds of businesses and industries are waiting with bated breath to see whether war will force even more changes to the show.
Caterers, fashion designers, jewellers, limousine rental companies and other industries depend on the annual party for major revenues, including the estimated $US4 million spent on gifts for nominees and presenters.
Even Los Angeles' many plastic surgeons and the city's legions of professional bodyguards experience a traditional "Oscars rush" as vain stars seek to look their best for the cameras.
And the cinema industry is one of the major beneficiaries of the Oscars with nominated and winning films seeing a sharp increase in ticket receipts.
Economy Professor Randy Nelson of Colby College in the eastern US state of Maine estimated an Oscar nomination was worth around $US8 million in additional box office receipts.
An Oscar win brings in an extra $US16 million for movies that are already in cinemas when they win the award.
"People see the show on TV, the actors, the glamour ... it builds up the anticipation," Nelson said.
"If it was not to be televised, it would have some negative impact on the (films') revenue," he added.
Added to the immediate cost of any cancellation of the telecast would be the impact on tourism that the event that has been broadcast for 50 years usually generates.
"We couldn't buy that publicity," Leron Gubler, president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said of the impact the Oscars have in the 157 countries in which they are seen from Abu Dhabi to Yemen.
And the US ABC network, which is currently in talks with the Academy over whether the planned telecast will go ahead, stands to be a big loser if the ceremony is replaced by live coverage of the war.
The network, owned by the Walt Disney Co, charges up to $US1.5 million per 30 second commercial spot and usually generates between $US75 million to $US80 million in revenues from sponsors, a New York analyst said.
But sponsors and advertisers such as AOL-Time-Warner, General Motors and American Express could pull out of their huge contracts if the event or telecast is postponed or cancelled or if they feel their names are being attached to an event that could appear frivolous, he said.
In late 2001, television's Emmy awards were delayed twice after the September 11 terror strikes, only to be broadcast later to a largely indifferent public.
AFP
March 21 2003
--erik
< g >
Screw'em. Let 'em hold it in Baghdad.
I believe the word the author is looking for here is "frivolous". Nothing like raining death and destruction on others to make it easy to identify the "frivolous".
The SPECTRE of war? Well, too darn bad!!! Ha!ha!ha! I hope they lose their pants off in revenues!!!! It's about time these phoney creeps find out just how irrelevant they are!
My first thought is 'so what' and 'who cares' about the traitors in Hollywood? After reading first line, think the author may actually feel the same way. . .
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