Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas Lead Academy Awards(R) Balloting Process for 2nd Consecutive Year
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31 LAWFUEL – Legal News Network — Continuing its distinguished 73-year association with the Academy Awards, PricewaterhouseCoopers today
announced that Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas will lead the balloting process for the 79th Annual Academy Awards. For the second consecutive year, Oltmanns and Rosas are the only two people in the world who will know the identity of the winners before the live telecast on ABC at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST) on Sunday, February 25, 2007.
“PricewaterhouseCoopers facilitates complete confidentiality and
security of the Academy Awards voting process by counting every single
ballot by hand,” said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences. “Trust, integrity and tradition continue to be the core
of the Academy Awards balloting process and that of our relationship with
PwC, one of Hollywood’s longest standing relationships.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ engagement with the Academy represents a
tremendous honor for the firm. In 73 years, only 12 partners have counted
the ballots. To promote secrecy, Oltmanns and Rosas lead a closed-mouth
group of accountants who work on the project from a secret location for
several days. There are approximately 6,000 voting members, which
translates to approximately 1,700 “person-hours” each year to count and
verify the ballots.
“PricewaterhouseCoopers has created an intentionally low-tech process
of hand tabulations that is proven to maintain the highest level of
security and secrecy for seven decades and counting,” said Brad Oltmanns,
managing partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers – Los Angeles. “This assignment is one that truly represents an honor, privilege and thrill of a lifetime.”
“We are committed to our enduring engagement with the Academy and
safeguarding Hollywood’s most enduring secret,” said Rick Rosas, tax
partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Entertainment and Media practice. “We take
great pride in this important role of being the Academy’s ballot partner
and in the fact that there has never been a security breach during our
73-year relationship.”
Now in his third year in a lead balloting role, Oltmanns has served
PricewaterhouseCoopers for 27 years, and is in charge of managing its
entire 1,000-person staff in Los Angeles. Rosas has served the firm for 11
years and was appointed tax partner in 2001. This is his sixth year leading the Academy’s balloting process.
How it Works
PricewaterhouseCoopers mails eligible Academy members the nomination
ballots in December, final ballots in February, and receives and processes
all ballots. The balloting partners then manually tabulate the responses
according to Academy rules. As a precautionary measure, two complete sets
of envelopes bearing recipients’ names are prepared and brought by
PricewaterhouseCoopers partners to the ceremony via separate, secret
routes. As a second precautionary measure, the PricewaterhouseCoopers
partners also memorize the names of the award winners.
Identities of Oscar recipients are kept confidential until they are
announced during the live telecast, during which Oltmanns and Rosas remain
backstage and hand the envelopes to award presenters immediately before
they walk onstage.
For additional information including photos and video, visit:
http://www.pwc.com/balloting.
Fun Facts from 73 Years of Oscar(R) Balloting
— 420,000+: The approximate number of ballots counted by
PricewaterhouseCoopers in 73 years on the job.
— 2,449: The number of winners’ envelopes stuffed since the envelope
system was introduced in 1941.
— 1,700: The approximate number of “person-hours” it takes the
PricewaterhouseCoopers team every year to count and verify the ballots
by hand.
— 73: The number of years PricewaterhouseCoopers has conducted the Oscar
balloting.
— 55: The number of broadcasts PricewaterhouseCoopers’ partners have
appeared on since 1953 — the year the Oscars were first televised.
The partners used to come on stage to hand-deliver the envelopes —
hence, “and the envelope please” — but this is now done just offstage.
— 24: The number of awards categories tabulated at a secret location
known only to the members of the small PricewaterhouseCoopers ballot
team.
— 7: The number of days it takes to count the ballots for nominations.
— 3: The number of days it takes to count the final ballots.
