Producer Nicolas Chartier Banned from Oscars
By Anet Hovhanesian
French producer Nicolas Chartier who was a part of the Best Picture nominated film The Hurt Locker has been banned from attending the Oscar awards ceremony this Sunday due to an e-mail he sent. According to USA Today, Chartier is being punished for trying to sway Oscar voters towards his film by talking trash about a fellow nominee.
Chartier sent Oscar voters an e-mail urging them to support the low budget Iraq war drama directed by Kathryn Bigelow over “a $500 million film” — an obvious dig at James Cameron’s monster blockbuster Avatar. Chartier angered the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who were contemplating not only banning Cartier but also taking away his film’s nomination.
Avatar has grossed millions and is more than likely going to win Best Picture at the Oscars no matter how many e-mails Chartier sends Oscar voters. I think even Chartier knows this and was acting in a state of desperation.
Do you think Cartier went too far with his e-mails? What do you think of the decision to ban him from the Oscars?
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 5:54PM
Bad sportsmanship is always in poor taste! You may feel and believe your movie is better, and perhaps it even is. But you play by the rules and show yourself to be "fair". Maybe he is new to this whole Oscar thing, but he certainly knew the rules! And trash talking about another only shows your true self!!!
Monday, March 8, 2010 2:23PM
I'm shocked that this happened, and the film took six awards!
Monday, March 8, 2010 7:27PM
Nicholas Chartier is, unfortunately, coming off as a bit of a self-serving sleaze. The arm-twisting, self-promoting e-mail he sent to the members of the academy is just scratching the surface, I suspect. Good that the Academy barred him from being at the ceremony.
As for the complaint filed by Sergeant Sarver, when Chartier says "I haven't taken any grossly unfair action against him. I've never heard of him. … Did I steal his girlfriend? Never heard of him", he reveals more of his mocking and dismissive attitude. Methinks he doth protest too much. Well, OF COURSE he had never heard of him, because the writer of the screenplay, Mark Boal, did not bother to be up front about the basis for the character and events that he turned into a movie !! And I doubt very seriously that Mr. Chartier has the kind of "right stuff" that would interest any woman who knows Sergeant Sarver … honestly, Mr. Chartier does appear to think a lot of himself !
As superficial and dismissive as Chartier is, it is really Mr. Boal who wins the sleaze award – which he should tape on his Oscar — for not being up front about the primary source of his experience and inspiration for his screenplay. He wrote the 2005 Playboy article, "The Man in the Bomb Suit", after being embedded in Master Sergeant Sarver's unit in Iraq, even using Sargeant Sarver's combat handle, Blaster One. The denials and hand-waving of Mr. Boal and his representatives aside, this is just all too easy to get to the bottom of. You know that the comrades with whom Sergeant Sarver served and whose lives that Sergeant Sarver has saved through his bravery will be quite willing to set the record straight ! Sarver 1, Boal 0.
Talk about someone who seeks to profit from the heroism and sacrifice of others without credit given where credit is due — this is a pretty obvious case. If the producers and promoters of this movie want to preserve and uphold the good reputation of others who are involved in the project, including the director Kathryn Bigelow, they owe it to Sergeant Sarver to come clean about the source behind the script. The truth will come out anyway. Too bad the sequel to the movie may be about the smarmier side of movie making — especially since the story is one that clearly deserves to be told, and was told in an effective way.
Unfortunately, once you have paraded out your denials, dismissals, and uppity attitude, it takes a bigger man than apparently either Mr. Chartier or Mr. Boal are in order to do the right thing. But it will be interesting, perhaps even entertaining, to see Mr. Boal et. al. squirm and sweat a bit as they try to defuse the public relations bomb which has landed in *their* lap.