Sunday, March 26, 2000
Academy boss takes setbacks in stride
Cincinnati native heads trade organization
BY MARGARET A. McGURK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Lost ballots, stolen statues, an overly-nosy newspaper — the road toward tonight's Oscar ceremony has been fraught with bizarre misfortunes. You could hardly blame Robert Rehme if he were in a bad mood. The Cincinnati native is president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the trade organization behind the yearly awards spectacular.
Instead, he is determined to stay upbeat. His take on the year's setbacks: “It's always exciting at Oscar time.”
Speaking on the day the Academy discovered that 55 uninscribed statues had been stolen from a loading dock in Bell, Calif., he calmly insisted they would be recovered. They were — all but three at press time. A shipping company employee was charged with the theft.
The 4,400 mailed ballots misplaced by the Postal Service (weirdly enough, they were also later found in Bell) didn't upset him too much either. Replacements were sent out with plenty of time to meet a slightly extended deadline.
“Coincidentally, this year there were five more days (than last year) in that period between the mailing and the day they (were) due back,” he said. “So we weren't worried. It actually got us a lot of publicity.”
He did betray impatience with the Wall Street Journal after Academy members complained that reporters had been calling in what seemed like a polling effort to determine the winners in advance. On Friday, the Journal published its findings as a random survey, based on answers from 6 percent of Academy members.
“If you are a basketball fan and UC is in the playoffs, and they make it down to the finals, how would you like them to announce the score before the game starts?,” Mr. Rehme said. “You would hate that. I do think it's a dreadful idea and I think everybody agrees with me. ... “We don't want them to rain on our parade.”
Mr. Rehme, whose producing credits include A Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games, previously served as president of the Academy for one year about a decade ago. He now is serving his third consecutive one-year term and is eligible to run for one more.
“I don't think about (running again) at this time of year,” he said, but added, “I enjoy serving the industry. I love the motion picture industry, and I appreciate my life in the industry.”
He also admits no competition for the global phenomenon that the Oscars have spawned.
“If you have an Academy Award or nomination on your resume or your bio,” he said, “(newspapers) will say "so and so, Academy Award winner' every time. That will be there forever. It won't say "Blockbuster Award winner' or "People's Choice award winner.' There really is nothing else like the Oscars.”
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