Cynthia Schroeder COMM 362 Final—PR Writing The Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences 8949 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, California 90211
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RLEASE Contact: Cynthia Schroeder (562) 299-2804 cynschroeder@gmail.com Feb. 28, 2016 LEONARDO DICAPRIO: FIFTH TIME’S THE CHARM HOLLYWOOD, Calif.— He was a young rogue who finds love before tragedy strikes in Titanic. He was the eccentric Howard Hughes in The Aviator and the party-hearty Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street. He’s arguably the best actor of his generation. This year, Leonardo DiCaprio is nominated for the coveted “Best Actor” Academy award yet again. After being nominated four times and not winning, will 2016 be the year that DiCaprio ceases to be the bridesmaid and finally becomes the bride? DiCaprio is nominated for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in The Revenant, a film about a frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s who fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. The film’s director Alejandro G. Iñárritu has said this performance has taken Leo to a new caliber. "I think his performance has to be seen by hopefully millions of people, (and) I'm sure they will be emotionally involved and happy about seeing Leo in this caliber," said Iñárritu.
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LEO DICAPRIO – Page 2 Critics have praised DiCaprio not only for a stupendous performance, but for the sacrifices he made in the name of art. Critics believe these two aspects will be the winning combination for DiCaprio tonight at the Academy Awards. “There is also the value of the performance in The Revenant itself, which has a real ‘suffering for your art’ quality to it that tends to land well with the Academy in the acting categories, be that actors who put themselves through extreme physical transformations or, as in this case, throw themselves into extreme physical situations,” said Don Jolin, features editor of Empire magazine. Jane Crowther, editor of Total Film, echoed Jolin’s sentiment but added that the Academy tends to give awards to those that resemble “the underdog” off screen, and not just their performance on screen. “The narrative for Leonardo is he’s a great actor, he’s been in a lot of great films, and never won in the past. The other narrative of this particular film is that this guy suffered for his art, he got cold, he really ate a bison liver when he’s a vegetarian, he was so true to the project. It’s that sort of story that Oscar voters like,” said Crowther. “People have grown up with Leonardo, they feel like they know him and they’re invested in him.” According to numerous fan favorite polls, DiCaprio is the front runner for the “Best Actor” category. “Every Oscar year, you tend to get people for whom there’s an overwhelming sense of it really, finally being their time. DiCaprio now seems to have matured to that point: this is his fourth nomination as leading man, and fifth as actor. (more)
LEO DICAPRIO – Page 3
The Academy Awards will be held this Sunday, February 28 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. and be broadcast live on ABC. Tweet this: “Will 2016 be the year that DiCaprio ceases to be the bridesmaid and finally becomes the bride? #FifthTimesTheCharm #Oscars2016”
### About the Academy Awards The Academy Awards, or "Oscars", is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements in the United States film industry as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. About Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo DiCaprio is an award-winning actor and five-time Academy Award nominee. Born in Hollywood, California, he began acting at the age of 14. RESEARCH 1. Interview with Ken Sunshine, DiCaprio’s publicist, 212-691-2100 2. About Leonardo DiCaprio. http://leonardodicaprio.com/biography/ 3. IMDB. The Revenant http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663202/ Multimedia Elements
Titanic – Link to “I’m the king of the world” scene from Titanic The Aviator – Link to The Aviator trailer The Wolf of Wall Street – Link to Wolf of Wall Street trailer The Revenant – Link to The Revenant trailer 5. Photo on page 1 links to an interview with Leonardo DiCaprio 6. has said – A link to Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarrítu’s quote about Leo 1. 2. 3. 4.