Oscars 2014: Meet the 2 Men Who Know the Oscars Results before Anyone Else
The 86th Academy Awards is just around the corner and the results are in for this year's biggest night in Hollywood. While the movie-watching public and the industry's A-list stars are waiting for the results, Rick Rosas and Brian Cullinan are ahead of everyone when it comes for the final results for the 2014 Oscars.
Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Rosas and Cullinan are the two people in the world who knows in advance the winners and losers in this year's academy awards. The last Oscar votes came in on Tuesday and the PwC accountants started their tallies on Wednesday to have the results ready on Sunday, March 2.
"As accountants, we keep confidential information every day," revealed Rosas in an interview Time Entertainment. "This is the one time there's a little heightened interest in it."
According to the report, a team of six people, excluding Rosas and Cullinan, split up the ballots in to two so nobody knows the exact count of the votes. Once done, the two accountants will add the subtotals and by Friday evening they will know all the winners.
There are about 6,000 voting members of the Academy and the counting is done manually. "It's old-school," says Cullinan. "It's as boring as it sounds. You have lots and lots of stacks of little pieces of paper."
All categories in the Academy Awards are counted several times and will be recounted if there's a tie. Once the tally is done, the results are listed in three different cards. Rosas and Cullinan are task to put the winning cards in the envelopes and destroy the losing and extra cards.
The two accountants will travel separately to the show, in cars with security details. They are the only one certified to carry the briefcase that contains the results of winners down to the red carpet, and each will take their spot on the opposite side of the stage.
With two more days to go, the 2014 Oscars will be at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles and will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres for the second time around. The award-winning host previously hosted the 79th Academy Awards in 2007.
The Sunday's award show will kick off at 1:30 with the red carpet arrivals and the Award Show will start at 5:30 with the announcement of winners at 8:3 to 10 P.M.