AND THE WINNER IS...

1. What’s the Oscar’s importance in America nowadays?
Movies, in general, have always been about escapism, and the Oscars celebrate the best movies. At a time when America is facing immense challenges at home and abroad, the Oscars are a welcome night of reprieve from the problems of the real world--a night when a dress you could never afford, worn by someone who you will never meet, and the fortunes of the person in that dress seem to take on immense importance.

2. When did you create “And the Winner is” and why did you do it?
"And the Winner Is" first went online on December 18, 2005, right in the thick of the Oscar race. I had been conducting interviews and submitting content to Sasha Stone, the editor of OscarWatch, for some time, and I had been inundating her with more material than she could use. She encouraged me to start up my own blog so that I could chime in on the race whenever I wanted, so I looked into the option. To be honest, I was very nervous at first, because I am not at all techinically savvy. I soon learned the basics and I'm thrilled with the results.

3. Which Oscar blogs existed when you launched yours?
Of all the blogs, OscarWatch is the most successful and has been around the longest. Kris Tapley had been conducting interviews for OW, but I learned that he was leaving to start his own web site (InContention) and I contacted Sasha to see if she might be able to use an experienced replacement. She accepted my offer and I spent one year conducting some fascinating interviews for OW. Tom O'Neil has also always had a blog, in one form or another.

4. When I talk about people predicting Oscars one year before the awards are given, they look at me in a strange way and ask: ‘How is it possible if the films are not released yet?’ What would you tell them?
I'd tell them I don't believe it is possible to accurately predict many nominees or winners a year in advance, so I don't do it on my site. Others attempt it because they think they can spot a likely contender based on the genre, storyline, and primary people associated with the film (actors, director, writer), so they give it a try. I take it as it comes. I try to see all movies that have any positive buzz around them, and then I decide on my own whether or not the film or performances have awards potential. Whenever I have seen enough promising films and performances, I start regularly posting and updating rankings of them. That usually starts during or after the summer.

5. How is the relationship between Oscarbloggers? Have you met the rest of them personally? Only by e-mail?
I think the relationship is relatively good among most Oscar bloggers. I have not met any of the others in-person, but many of us correspond regularly to share news or seek opinions. I correspond most frequently with Sasha Stone, who I have found to be pleasant and knowledgable, and who I fondly call the 'godfather/godmother' of Oscar bloggers. I also email once in a while with Tom O'Neil. I understand that Jeffrey Wells and David Poland have a longstanding feud with each other, and they're both eccentric and competitive personalities, but I have not had a problem with either.

6. What is the average age of Oscarbloggers?
It's an interesting question that I don't know the answer to. I know, for instance, that Kris, like me, is a young guy in his twenties. Sasha is a young mother. And David, Jeffrey, and Tom are middle-aged guys who do this for a living. In my opinion, our age is irrelevant as the long as the quality of our work is strong. There are plenty of older guys who proclaim themselves Oscar experts on the days that nominations and winners are announced, and they don't know half of what some of us younger guys know in our little finger.

7. Is Oscarblogging a fan thing or is there any economical profit from it furthermore?
I think for almost all of us, it started out as a fan thing. We all love movies and we are all fascinated by the history, tactics, and process of the awards season---if we were not, we would go crazy reporting on all of the minutiae of the race year-round. Some Oscar bloggers are reporters who cover the film industry and tackle the awards season when it comes around (David Carr, Anne Thompson), some factor it into their larger coverage of the film industry all year (David Poland, Jeffrey Wells), and some of us exclusively cover things related to the race every day of the year (Sasha Stone, Kris Tapley, myself). Nobody is getting rich off of doing this, but people like David and Sasha have been able to do quite well off of advertising. I'm working on it!

8. Is there any kind of rivalry among Oscarbloggers? And the discussions with Tom O’Neil (Dreamgirls, SOAP Awards…)?
You know, I think most of us realize that, in the grand scheme of things, the awards season and our coverage of it is not all that important. That does not mean we don't care about it or take it seriously, but it means we have perspective. When we get very passionate about a certain film or performance, though, it has led to debates. Most of those debates are civil and not personal. For instance, I strongly criticized Tom O'Neil for writing stories that were attempting to incite controversy where none existed. He emailed me back his defense, which pointed out where he disagreed with me and also where he thought I made fair criticisms. Later, he strongly criticized the nominations of the Society of Online Awards Prognosticators, of which I am the founder and president. I had invited Tom to participate, he declined, and then he wrote that our group was simply reiterating what every other group had been saying before us. I emailed Tom and pointed out where I disagreed and also where I thought he made fair criticisms. And when SOAP's results revealed that we had acutally selected several unusual winners, Tom graciously wrote a post on his site indicating that he was wrong and had pie on his face. None of this has hurt our relationship at all, and I think that is the case with most debates between Oscar bloggers. That said, I get the impression that David and Jeffrey genuinely dislike each other as a result of past disagreements, so there are exceptions.

9. What do you think about Patrick Golstein critics to Oscarblogging?
I really don't know or follow Patrick Goldstein too closely, but from what I understand he is someone who regularly complains about how much Oscar coverage is out there... in a publication (The L.A. Times' special insert "The Envelope") that covers the Oscar race. The truth is that unlike us Oscar bloggers, he probably has deadlines for stories, and when there is a shortage of material on which to write, he targets us. I don't take it too personally or seriously.

10. What’s the importance Oscarbloggers have in the Awards race? Do you determinate anything?
We're in an interesting position. Speaking for myself, I want to share my honest reaction to films and performances with my readers, but I also want to give them an objective analysis of how the awards season will play out. Sometimes, a movie that I like more than most people and believe should be recognized (like "The Squid and the Whale" or "Sideways") is unlikely to be, or a movie I'm not crazy about (like "A History of Violence" or "Little Children") is likely to be, so I have to present both sides of the coin. Do Oscar bloggers influence the race? Yes, I think we do. To a great extent, our reactions filter out a lot of garbage and highlight a lot of special films. Studios and publicists determine whether or not they should wage an awards campaign partly based on the buzz, or lack thereof, in the blogosphere. (Meg Ryan's performance in "In the Cut" a few years ago comes to mind. It was hyped as Oscar bait, but bloggers called it what it was and it died out quickly.) I and several others feel we should be more like reporters than advocates to as great an extent as possible---we know we can't keep our opinion totally out of the conversation, but it should not be the story. We all feel different about it. Tom O'Neil, David Poland, and Jeffrey Wells openly supported films this year. People who read my blog or Sasha's, however, usually won't find that. They probably know that we both thought "The Departed" was great, but they also know that our opinion does not color our coverage of rivals like "Little Miss Sunshine"---if for no other reason than we like to make accurate predictions, not ones that just make us feel good!

11. What opinion has the Academy on Oscarbloggers? Do Oscarbloggers receive any help (information, passes, DVD’s…) from it?
I think that Academy members either directly or indirectly hear what we bloggers are talking about, since we often start the conversations and raise the issues that become fodder for the mainstream media. Publicists obviously believe that the best blogs have influence, as they make their talent available to us for interviews and comments on a regular basis. Those of us who have the most influence also receive screeners and invitations to advance screenings of films long before they come out. It is interesting to note that the institution of the Academy, which is diffrerent from its members, does not yet know how to regard us. I was very disheartened to learn that it has ordered OscarWatch to change its name because it features the word 'Oscar' in its title--it indicates that the Academy does not yet appreciate how much attention and interest in the Oscars is generated by OscarWatch and similar blogs, which generate tens of thousands of hits each week. If OW does indeed change its name, it will inevitably suffer some loss of readers, which not only hurts Sasha Stone but also hurts the Academy.

12. Why did you decide to create SOAP? And SOAP Awards?
I created SOAP because I wanted the top online awards analysts to get to know each other and work more closely together. The SOAP Awards came about because I felt that SOAP members' readers visit our sites regularly because they consider us to be knowledgable about all of the contenders--they hear our objective thoughts on contenders, but rarely our opinions. Since it is safe to say that we see more of the films than most awards voters (or anyone, for that matter), I think we have an interesting perspective to bring to the table, and one that is a lot easier to share if we do so as a group rather than as individuals. I think we made some maverick choices with our SOAP winners. I don't flatter myself by believing that we influenced the race much this year, when we announced so late in the season, but with so many talented bloggers participating in SOAP I believe it can play a more important role in the race in years to come.