On Thursday, composer Bruce Broughton sent out the following email to Academy spokesperson Teni Melidonian and CEO Dawn Hudson (and cc to Academy president Cheryl Boone Issacs) regarding the disqualification of his nominated song from Alone Yet Not Alone, which has now been published as an open letter:
Dear Teni,
I just looked at the Academy release of the rescinding of the nomination and came upon this line in the penultimate paragraph: “Members were asked to watch the clips and then vote in the order of their preference for not more than five nominees in the category.” This isn’t at all accurate.
What the letter that Charlie Fox sent to accompany the DVD actually said was: “When making your voting selections, simply select up to five songs in order of your preference. We hope that you will watch (italics mine) the enclosed DVD and use it to better inform your voting decision.”
Based upon that italicized phrase, I decided to send some emails.
Furthermore, if, as you quote the Academy’s rules, “it is the Academy’s goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner,” and my 70 or so emails constitutes a breach of that standard, why could the current Academy president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, consult on Academy Award nominated projects like The Artist, The King’s Speech and others with a history as an Academy governor that far exceeds mine and at the same time produce the Governors’ Ball without having that look like a breach of the same standard?
I am of course copying Dawn Hudson on this email, and would have included Cheryl if I had had her email address.
Best regards,
Bruce Broughton
