A correction was made to this article on Jan. 25, 2007.
So who did what? And when will we know?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will assemble arbitration boards to figure out the eligibility of producers of "The Departed" and "Little Miss Sunshine," both of which were listed as "nominees to be determined."
The state of limbo is relatively new. Before 1999, the Acad gave a producer nom to whoever was listed. But after five producers ran to the stage to accept for the 1998 "Shakespeare in Love," the Acad limited the number of eligible producers to three. Two years ago, the org announced it will follow Producers Guild of America guidelines.
"Sunshine" has five onscreen producers, which is OK by PGA rules, but is too many for the Acad.
The issue of producer credits keeps evolving as the Academy seeks a level playing field. But the org will have to address the fact that five writers are allowed on the screenplays for "Borat" and "Children of Men," but five are too many for producers.
"Departed" is a separate issue. The pic lists four producers. The PGA announced Graham King as the sole producer -- a decision the guild upheld after Brad Grey appealed.
The Academy has "had a request to re-examine the Producers Guild credits," according to AMPAS exec director Bruce Davis, who declined to name the person(s) who requested it.
Aside from King, the onscreen credits for "Departed" list Grey and Brad Pitt as producers.
On Saturday, the PGA gave its prize to "Sunshine's" Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa.
The "Sunshine" group has the option of deciding themselves which three get the Oscar nom. Otherwise, the Acad will decide.
The "to be determined" situation is unusual, but not unprecedented. In the race for 2004 films, three of the pic contenders had their credits in limbo at the time of the nomination: "The Aviator," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Ray."
As for the PGA, it gives producers a questionnaire regarding their participation in some 50 tasks related to a particular film. Under the PGA rules, a producer must complete at least 50% of the tasks. Development and post-production count for 30% each, while pre-production and production count for 20% each.
Last year, Bob Yari sued the PGA and the Academy for being excluded from his work on "Crash" (which had 14 various producers).
Since the PGA does the homework, the Acad uses the findings as a guideline, but doesn't accept them automatically. If anyone questions the PGA decision, he or she can appeal to the Academy. Members of the producers branch executive committee then make their own ruling.
Contact Timothy M. Gray at
tim.gray@variety.com