It\u2019s fair to say the Academy Awards have rowed back on just about every change they\u2019ve tried to make to the Oscars ceremony this year.<\/p>\n
They wanted, for example, to announce some winners in the commercial breaks to save time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That idea didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n
They wanted to introduce a new popular film category to recognise more mainstream movies.<\/p>\n
That idea didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n
Put together with Kendrick Lamar pulling out of performing and the lack of a host this year, it\u2019s understandable that the planning of this year\u2019s event has been described as chaotic.<\/p>\n
One Hollywood veteran, however, tells BBC News that things should be kept in perspective ahead of Sunday\u2019s ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cChaos? It\u2019s just an awards show! Goodness me. Take it down a level,\u201d says Jamie Lee Curtis at the ICG Publicists Awards in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what, those were just some missteps, everybody\u2019s trying to figure out how to make these things shorter, a little more easy on the eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously they made a couple of missteps but they\u2019ve made some huge strides in diversity and inclusivity, so you have to remember it\u2019s a moving machine, it\u2019s not something rigid.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they\u2019re trying some new things. It didn\u2019t go well, they\u2019re pulling it back, and they\u2019ll figure it out. But it\u2019s an awards show, let\u2019s put it into that category.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curtis was being honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the publicists\u2019 luncheon, which is organised annually by the International Cinematographers Guild.<\/p>\n
The actress, who starred in A Fish Called Wanda and several Halloween movies, used her speech at the event to highlight the important role played by both press and publicists in the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in the freedom of the press. I believe that you have the right to ask me whatever question you want to ask me\u2026 And it is a dance that we have been doing for a very long time,\u201d she told the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe figure it out, we dance together and it is a mutually beneficial dance because this is show business \u2013 this is show-off business.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Some stars] don\u2019t talk to the press until they have a movie coming out\u2026 they are fraudulent. The truth is this is the game \u2013 this is how it\u2019s played and I am proud to play it with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curtis was one of several stars at the event keen to champion this often-overlooked area of the industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t know much about a film or the actors without a publicist,\u201d explains Sheryl Main, the co-chair of the awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cA great publicity team can make a difference, especially on a smaller film that doesn\u2019t have a big budget, maybe doesn\u2019t have a huge studio behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crazy Rich Asians is one recent film which benefitted hugely from a strong PR campaign, its director Jon M Chu acknowledges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a lot of trouble before the movie came out when testing the movie,\u201d he tells BBC News.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people didn\u2019t know the book, some people who did know the book were sceptical of Hollywood. Other people thought the title wasn\u2019t for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo our publicity team, our marketing team, everyone on the Warner Bros side, had to really get in the dirt and had to show the world what we were and what we stood for.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team promoting the movie ensured its groundbreaking status was championed.<\/p>\n
Crazy Rich Asians was the first Hollywood film in 25 years to feature an all-Asian principal cast, a fact many news outlets started to pick up on as the campaign progressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne by one, it was a masterclass for me to witness how it became a must-see movie,\u201d says Chu, adding he is now working on a sequel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in the very beginning stages still. Throwing around a lot of ideas, a lot of good ideas, bad ideas, so we\u2019re trying to weed it out to find the best one, we won\u2019t make it unless it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the film\u2019s stars, Michelle Yeoh, describes the publicity campaign as \u201cone of the crucial, most important things\u201d in the success of the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not under the Marvel banner, with the huge name, we didn\u2019t have a lot of big stars,\u201d she tells BBC News.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we pushed it in such a way that it captured the imagination of the audiences and it drew them and made them curious about the lifestyle, the culture, the songs, the food, the glamour.\u201d<\/p>\n
But despite its box office success, Crazy Rich Asians failed to pick up any nominations at this year\u2019s Oscars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess there\u2019s always hope, you\u2019d love that your film be nominated. Of course there\u2019s the disappointment when it\u2019s not, but when you think about it, everything really went against our movie,\u201d Yeoh says.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s a romantic comedy, it\u2019s an all-Asian cast, that\u2019s unheard of for 25 years, so can you imagine, for it to achieve the success that it already has done, is such a reward for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have been the cherry on the cake if we\u2019d had a nomination, but our publicity team had to work through so many hurdles just to get us where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
It could have been a very different story if the Academy had pressed ahead with the popular film category \u2013 which almost certainly would\u2019ve been one in which Crazy Rich Asians was recognised.<\/p>\n
But in spite of that, Chu thinks it was the right choice for the Academy to drop it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of the classic Academy Award categories,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I wasn\u2019t a huge fan of doing a popular film category, even if it meant maybe we\u2019d get a better chance. I honestly didn\u2019t think we had any chance to be in the awards season, so this has all been very amazing to go through and live through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chu recalled the most bizarre moment of the awards season so far \u2013 which occurred at a gents toilets urinal last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to the bathroom at the Golden Globes, and on my left was Alfonso Cuaron, and on my right was Jordan Peele, and I was like \u2018Oh, this is Hollywood now\u2019, and it was an amazing feeling. It was great to see how the face of Hollywood had changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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