Hurt Locker Producer Banned from 2010 Oscars

Nicholas Chartier, one of four producers of The Hurt Locker, has been banded by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from Sunday's Oscar's (82^nd Academy Awards).

The Hurt Locker is among the ten nominees for Best Picture, but if it pulls out a win, producer Nicolas Chartier will not be there. The Academy announced in a press release Tuesday that Chartier violated campaigning rules of The Academy Awards by emailing Academy members encouraging them to vote for The Hurt Locker rather than judge the films based on box office revenue.

Chartier was obviously making a dig at box office smash Avatar while promoting his own film.

The ethics violation was enough to get the attention of The Academy, who in turn revoked Chartier's invitation to the award ceremony Sunday evening.

Should The Hurt Locker win there are three other producers who can accept the award. An Oscar will not be withheld from Chartier in the event of a win. However, he will be eligible to receive an Oscar later.

The decision and announcement was made Tuesday just as balloting was ending.

The AP reports that Chartier sent a follow up email apologizing for breaching Academy rules. He blamed his aggressive campaigning on "naiveté, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity." His apology did not alter The Academy's decision.

Chartier, additional producers and writers are lucky that The Academy did not take further measures, such as rescinding The Hurt Locker nomination, but The Hurt Locker will continue to stand on its own merits, having received an impressive 9 nominations this year. Avatar also garnered 9 different nominations, including its nomination for Best Picture.

According to The Academy, while they are disappointed that the incident happened, they are satisfied that it has been adequately addressed. They are now focused on the Academy Awards scheduled for Sunday evening, March 7, 2010. The event will be televised on ABC at 8pm ET and 5pm PT.

The Hurt Locker is among ten movies that have been nominated for Best Picture. Other nominees include Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, A Serious Man, Up, and Up in the Air.

The Hurt Locker won best film and other categories at the British Academy of Film and Television Awards. The Hurt Locker is an excellent movie, but the competition in the category for Best Picture at the Oscars is very stiff. Robert Ebert picked Hurt Locker as the winner, but I wouldn't be surprised to see The Blind Side or Avatar take the win.

Sources:

Academy Penalizes Aggressive Campaigner, Press Release, Oscars.org

'Hurt Locker' producer barred from Oscars (AP), Yahoo Movies