Oscars Shocker: 13 Hours Sound Mixer’s Nomination Revoked
This article originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly.
Greg P. Russell, a re-recording mixer on Michael Bay’s 13 Hours, is out of the Oscars race — a day before the awards ceremony on Sunday. The Academy announced Saturday in a press release that it is rescinding his nomination for best sound mixing for violating campaign regulations.
According to The Academy, the Board of Governors determined Russell communicated with his fellow members of the Sound Branch Executive Committee during the nominations phase to make them aware of his work on the film. This violates official campaign rules, which state “contacting Academy members by telephone to promote a film or achievement is expressly forbidden, even if such contact is in the guise of checking to make sure a screener or other mailing was received.”
“The Board of Governors’ decision to rescind Mr. Russell’s nomination was made after careful consideration,” Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in a statement. “The Academy takes very seriously the Oscars voting process and anything – no matter how well-intentioned – that may undermine the integrity of that process.”
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13 Hours, however, is still in contention in the category, as Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, and Mac Ruth are sharing the nomination.
Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye for Arrival; 21-time nominee Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie, and Peter Grace for Hacksaw Ridge; Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, and Steve A. Morrow for La La Land; and David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio, and Stuart Wilson for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story are the other Best Sound Mixing nominees.
The Academy Awards kicks off live on ABC on Sunday, Feb. 26, with a 7 p.m. ET pre-show and 8:30 p.m. ceremony. See all the Oscar nominees and get your own ballot here!
