Oh boy, we’ve all sent emails we shouldn’t have by accident, but it’s worse when it goes public. “The Hurt Locker” producer Nicolas Chartier is probably wishing there was a rock he could crawl under until sometime this summer, after an email sent to Academy voters and industry insiders backfired in a big way.
You can read it below:
I hope all is well with you. I just wanted to write you and say I hope you liked Hurt Locker and if you did and want us to win, please tell (name deleted) and your friends who vote for the Oscars, tell actors, directors, crew members, art directors, special effects people, if everyone tells one or two of their friends, we will win and not a $500M film, we need independent movies to win like the movies you and I do, so if you believe The Hurt Locker is the best movie of 2010, help us! I’m sure you know plenty of people you’ve worked with who are academy members whether a publicist, a writer, a sound engineer, please take 5 minutes and contact them. Please call one or two persons, everything will help!
best regards,
Nicolas Chartier
Voltage Pictures
As you may have noticed, the email takes a very big swipe at certain huge, blue, CGI movie and the overall tone is simply unprofessional and a little bit desperate. It didn’t take long for the email to pick up steam, making the rounds of Awards focused websites, bloggers, gossipers and most importantly, those who were looking for something to stop the “The Hurt Locker”‘s freight train Oscar momentum.
After that, Chartier issued an apology (below), but by then the damage was done:
Last week I emailed you regarding the Oscars next week, generally, and “The Hurt Locker,” in particular.
My email to you was out of line and not in the spirit of the celebration of cinema that this acknowledgement is. I was even more wrong, both personally and professionally, to ask for your help in encouraging others to vote for the film and to comment on another movie. As passionate as I am about the film we made, this was an extremely inappropriate email to send, and something that the Academy strongly disapproves of in the rules.
My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first time nominee is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it. Being nominated for an Academy Award is the ultimate honor and I should have taken the time to read the rules.
I am emailing each person this very same statement asking to retract my previous email and requesting that you please disregard it.
I truly apologize to anyone I have offended.
Sincerely yours,
best regards,
Nicolas Chartier
Voltage Pictures, LLC
While the producers of “Avatar” were gracious about being targeted in the email when asked publicly about it, it seemed that at least behind the scenes, those looking to take down the Oscar frontrunner were fanning the flames until the Academy finally stepped in, rescinding Chartier’s Oscar invitation and very nearly dumping his nomination eligibility for violating the Academy’s rules and codes of conduct. The rest of “The Hurt Locker” team and producers were not penalized.
Our thoughts on this? The Academy only acted because the email went public and certain behind the scenes folks, looking to get some last minute Oscar leverage, turned it into an issue. Did Chartier act unprofessionally? He sure did, but Oscar season trash-talking and back-biting happens every year. Producers, publicists and everyone in town spread rumors, gossip and generally makes shit up that is far, far worse than whatever was in Chartier’s naive, if completely misguided email in order to sway to Oscar voting.
We truly feel sorry for Chartier, a newbie producer on the block, who will have to miss out on one of the biggest nights of his career. We think the Academy is being far too harsh, and if they really wanted to do something to protect the supposed “honor” of the industry, they would make a concerted effort to stamp out the malicious knives-in-the-back bullshit that goes on every Oscar season, instead of taking down a guy who just perhaps, a little too enthusiastic.
