We weren’t predicting that 16-time also-ran Greg P. Russell would finally win an Oscar this year as part of the sound mixing team that worked on “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.” And he certainly won’t now with Saturday’s announcement by the academy that his nomination has been revoked. Turns out Russell called up fellow members of the sound branch during the nominations voting period to talk about his work on this war drama.
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That is a no-no as per the rule that “contacting academy members by telephone to promote a film or achievement is expressly forbidden, even if such contact is in the guise of checking to make sure a screener or other mailing was received.” The board of governors reviewed the evidence against Russell and made the decision to drop his name from the roster. His fellow nominees from the film — Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth — remain in contention.
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In making the announcement, academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said, “the decision to rescind Mr. Russell’s nomination was made after careful consideration. The academy takes very seriously the Oscars voting process and anything – no matter how well-intentioned – that may undermine the integrity of that process.”
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