Echoes of Hollywood

Now that Murphy had a film with potential to compete in the awards season, achieving the desired outcome would require strategic thinking.

These strategies included not only marketing and PR but also personal factors.

One notable example was Natalie Portman's pregnancy tactic. Pregnant women tend to garner sympathy and goodwill more easily, a universal human tendency. Natalie Portman proved this effective during her Oscar campaign for "Black Swan," and again with "Jackie," receiving acclaim for her portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy just as awards season began—conveniently coinciding with her second pregnancy.

If one instance could be a coincidence, two instances certainly suggested deliberate planning.

This Jewish actress exemplified Oscar campaign tactics.

Murphy's focus shifted towards the awards season. He was confident about "Inglourious Basterds" performance in both the North American and overseas markets.

In North America, "Inglourious Basterds" grossed a solid $7.5 million on its first weekday, maintaining a steady pace. By the end of the workweek, it had earned $26.2 million, nearing the $100 million mark.

During its second weekend, the film continued its steady performance, with the weekend box office dropping only 45% compared to the previous weekend, adding another $31.7 million. This brought the North American total to $115.5 million.

Simultaneously, "Inglourious Basterds" expanded into more international markets, particularly in the UK, France, Germany, and Australia. Combined with previously released countries and regions, it grossed an additional $65 million overseas.

With global earnings steadily approaching $300 million, it was clear that surpassing this milestone was only a matter of time.

Meanwhile, Murphy collaborated with Harvey Weinstein, focusing on the awards season campaign.

By December, unlike previous years, Murphy's direct involvement in the awards season allowed him to feel the intense atmosphere of campaigning and PR activities.

Los Angeles, during this special time, not only hosted North American film workers but also attracted a large number of international filmmakers.

Spending on advertising and promotion was just the prelude to the campaign targeting the Oscars. According to the Academy's requirements, all Oscar-contending films must be screened in Los Angeles.

This year, the Academy modified the rules, requiring all competing films to be shown in Los Angeles theaters for seven consecutive days before the end of the year, with at least three screenings per day, including one during the prime time between 6 PM and 10 PM.

This "screening requirement" significantly increased the difficulty for many independent films to compete. Finding a distributor to handle these screenings also involved considerable expenses.

However, this posed no problem for Murphy and "Inglourious Basterds."

Throughout the Oscar campaign, most films' campaign budgets range from $5 million to $15 million, divided into two parts: the first half spent before nominations are announced, and the second half used for the final push after nominations.

For this awards season, 20th Century Fox and Weinstein Company allocated $10 million for the campaign for "Inglourious Basterds."

Additionally, Stanton Studio planned to invest $2 million, managed by CAA, for the Best Director nomination campaign.

In the ongoing first phase, "Inglourious Basterds" expenses were primarily focused on media advertising, producing DVDs and small gifts for the 6,000 voting members, and covering the costs of having key personnel attend various events.

20th Century Fox, Weinstein Company, and Murphy's agency, CAA, scheduled the film's promotional period for late November and December. Advertising in industry publications like "The Hollywood Reporter" cost about $70,000 to $80,000 per page. Maintaining media exposure across industry journals, billboards, and social media required a total advertising budget of around $2 million.

Additionally, producing DVDs of "Inglourious Basterds" and associated promotional materials, along with small gifts and mailing them to voting members, cost over $1 million.

These efforts, combined with screening events organized by Harvey Weinstein and post-screening Q&A sessions with guest speakers, ensured that if actors or directors were busy with other projects, their hotel, airfare, and accommodation costs would be covered. Meeting the media was an effective promotional strategy, demonstrating the utmost seriousness and sincerity in the awards campaign.

In short, all of this required money.

Even though Murphy's ultimate goal wasn't winning the Oscar statuette, and winning it would be difficult, he couldn't afford to slack off.

If the first phase involved extensive media promotion, assuming the film's quality held up and it was fortunate enough to receive nominations, then the second phase of activities would commence.

This phase's expenses, besides continuing to advertise on various platforms, primarily covered the costs of key personnel attending various media events.

These events included TV talk shows, interviews, and interactions with industry insiders, such as luxurious dinners and star-studded parties. During this time, Hollywood studios would spare no expense, using money to build the film's reputation and foster goodwill among voting members.

Last year, after "No Country for Old Men" received multiple Oscar nominations, the Coen brothers hosted guests at New York's Michelin three-star Japanese restaurant Kappo Masa, where a tuna roll cost $68.

Marion Cotillard, seeking to win over audiences and voting members, flew multiple times within a month from Europe and Hawaii to Los Angeles and New York for film promotion. No matter the time, she would always appear cheerful and smiling, ultimately winning the Best Actress Oscar for the relatively low-profile "La Vie en Rose."

However, starting this year, the Academy prohibited voting members from participating in any non-screening events, gatherings, or dinners related to the films to ensure fairness in the voting process. But luxurious gatherings and dinners following screening events were still allowed.

To say that the Oscars lacked absolute fairness and professionalism would not be an exaggeration.

The Oscars often faced criticism, such as accusations of racial bias against black actors, with most winners being white.

Nevertheless, despite the growing influence of PR campaigns over the past twenty years, the Oscars rarely faced allegations of rigged voting. Despite its "old white men" bias, the 6,000-plus voting members and multiple voting rounds ensured that the award process remained relatively transparent and credible under public and media scrutiny.

Perhaps, as Harvey Weinstein told Murphy, the Oscars' procedures and methods were more important than ideology and were the cornerstone of relative fairness.

In other words, if anyone, including Harvey Weinstein, could manipulate the Oscar voting process, it would be a joke.

The Academy's 6,000-plus members were over 90% white, with most being men over fifty. The main voting group was a bunch of unorganized, undisciplined old white men.

Thinking about it, it was impossible to forcefully influence so many old white men. The only way to win their votes was to move them with the film and related activities.

Moreover, the Oscar voting process involved two rounds: the first to select the nominated films, and after the nominations were announced, a second round of voting began.

The entire voting process was conducted in a highly secure environment. Ballots were mailed to PricewaterhouseCoopers' offices in Los Angeles and London, where a small team of sworn-in professionals manually counted the votes—not a public notary but a for-profit accounting firm, whose professional ethics and skills were more trustworthy.

The counting locations were highly secretive and never disclosed.

"These places are equipped with biometric locks, and only those initially sworn in can enter."

After a busy day, Murphy explained the voting process to Gal Gadot while they chatted. "There are no network communication facilities on site, and all ballots are hand-sorted. Once the nomination results or final winners are determined, they don't write down the results anywhere. Even the cards with the winners' names are printed at a factory in sets for each nominee. Once they receive the cards, they select the winner's card, seal it in an envelope, and burn the rest of the cards along with the ballots."

Gal Gadot was checking the recent mail in the manor's mailbox. Since moving in, their address had been publicly exposed, and the mailbox was inevitably filled with fan letters.

These letters couldn't all be handled at once. If thrown away, it would lead to endless trouble if exposed. Gal Gadot usually skimmed through them and then handed them over to a CAA specialist.

"On the day of the award ceremony," Murphy continued, "two accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers travel separately by car from different..."

Listening to Murphy, Gal Gadot's attention was drawn to a letter on the table. The envelope was adorned with a drawing of a blood-soaked dagger.

She picked it up and immediately realized there was more than just a letter inside. She quickly said, "Murphy, this letter seems off."

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