[ THE REASON WHy ]
THE ENvELOPE, PLEASE
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members who may nominate, and a high percentage of them do, says Oltmanns, so there can be a lot of counting going on. Even though online voting is now available for members, all of the ballots are still tabulated by hand, just as they’ve been for 79 years. Nominations are announced in early January, and voting takes place in early February, usually until the Tuesday before the Academy Awards are presented. That’s when the PwC team takes on both the leading and supporting roles, counting and recounting the votes over the next three days. “We arrange the work in such a way that the four members of the team only count a percentage of ballots in a category,” explains Oltmanns. “So even the team doesn’t know the final outcome of the voting.” For the past nine years, only Oltmanns and Rick Rosas, the other lead engagement partner, have been privy to the results before the show airs. They are among just 12 PwC partners who have led the balloting team since 1935.
become so famous for carrying. On Saturday, they go over to the theater to talk with the stage managers about the order of the awards, who will be presenting them, and which side of the stage the presenters will enter from. Accuracy and preparation are in an accountants’ blood, after all. But the red carpet? Not so much. “For an accountant to interface that much with the media is really unusual,” says Oltmanns, who explains that he and Rosas spend a couple of hours on the red carpet giving interviews about the process before the show. “It’s a different experience for someone in my profession, but it is a really fun start to an amazing day.” When the show begins, Oltmanns is on one side of the stage and Rosas is on the other. They each have a complete set of envelopes in case there are any presentation snafus, which certainly can happen with a live show. “The best way to avert a problem is to give the presenter the envelope at the very last second,” says Oltmanns.
OUR LIPS ARE SEALED NIGHT OF A THOUSAND STARS Two days before the Oscars, the ballots have all been counted and the results determined. Oltmanns and Rosas memorize each winner and prepare a set of envelopes that they pack into the black briefcases they’ve
This year’s show had a new wrinkle, with the Oscar for Best Picture being announced by a surprise presenter, Michelle Obama. So with Oltmanns and Rosas behind the stage in Beverly Hills, what did PwC do to maintain the confidentiality of both the winner and the surprise presenter?
“Our CEO Bob Moritz went to the White House for that presentation,” says Oltmanns. “But he had to be there for a rehearsal on Saturday and we didn’t finish counting until Friday afternoon, so a week in advance I sent Bob the envelope and one card for each potential winner. I called him on Saturday and told him which card to use to prepare the envelope and how to dispose of the others. These were special circumstances, and it was the first time a third person knew one of the results.” The 2013 Oscars was also the first time in Oltmanns’ tenure that there was a tie. The Academy Award for Sound Editing was a dead heat, which has only happened six times in 85 years. “We count and recount every result, but because there was a tie, we counted a few more times to be confident that we had the right result,” says Oltmanns. Each year after all the envelopes have been opened and the statuettes handed out, the accountants can lay down their briefcases and really let their hair down at the Governors Ball. “Personally, I am a movie fan and I make it a point to see all the nominated films. So it’s really a thrill to be a part of the celebration. Next year, I’ll be watching it on television, but I take a lot of great memories with me from the experience.” Cathy Lockman
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WHO Bradley Oltmanns, chairman of the board of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited and lead engagement partner with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences WHAT For the last nine years, he has been one of only two people who have known the results of the Academy Awards balloting prior to the telecast WHERE Beverly Hills, California WHEN The 2013 Oscars presentation was Oltmanns’ last as a balloting leader, as he retired from PwC in June WHY Integrity; PwC has been the official accounting firm for the Academy since 1935 Bradley Oltmanns arrives at the 2013 Academy Award Ceremony. Photo: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.
Perspectives SUMMER 2013
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hen Bradley Oltmanns graduated from ILLINOIS with his accounting degree in 1979 and began working at PricewaterhouseCoopers, he could never have predicted that it would land him on the red carpet. But, for the last nine years, that’s exactly where he’s been every February for Oscar night. Since 2004, Oltmanns has been one of PwC’s lead engagement partners with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. That makes him one of two people responsible for overseeing the results, the integrity, and the confidentiality of the balloting process for the Academy Awards. With his retirement in June 2013, he took his final bow at this year’s 85th annual event. “The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has been a client for 79 years,” says Oltmanns. “It is one of PwC’s longest standing relationships, and one we value tremendously. It’s a great honor and responsibility to oversee the balloting process and maintain PwC’s tradition of ensuring trust, confidentiality, and integrity to the show and to the voting process.” Just how does the process work? Oltmanns explains that in addition to the two lead engagement partners there is a small PwC team of four seasoned professionals who assist in the work. Some tabulation begins as early as October, with the preliminary nominating rounds. There are 5,800
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