PricewaterhouseCoopers to lead Academy Awards balloting process

Continuing its 72-year relationship with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), PricewaterhouseCoopers has announced that Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas will lead the balloting process for the 78th Annual Academy Awards.
Oltmanns and Rosas will be the only people who know who the Oscars winners are before their names are announced to the world during the Academy Awards telecast on ABC at 5 pm PST (8 pm EST) on Sunday, March 5, 2006.
"In a time when information can travel around the world in an instant, PricewaterhouseCoopers ensures the secrecy of the Academy Awards voting process by hand-counting each and every ballot," said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy. "The Academy Awards balloting and voting process demands the highest level of trust, integrity and tradition - and that continues to be the foundation of our long-standing relationship with PwC."
PricewaterhouseCoopers' engagement with the Academy is a continuing source of pride for the Firm. In 72 years, only 12 partners have had the privilege of counting ballots. To ensure secrecy, Oltmanns and Rosas lead a close-mouthed group of accountants who work on the project in a secret location for several days. There are approximately 6,000 voting Academy members and the ballot process takes approximately 1,700 "person-hours" each year to count and verify the ballots.
"PricewaterhouseCoopers has created a process based on hand tabulations that has worked for more than seven decades. Just the way Rolls-Royce continues to build cars by hand, we continue to count by hand," said Oltmanns, Managing Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers - Los Angeles. "In the 72 years of counting and validating the Academy Awards ballots, there has never been a security breach. I am proud to be part of the tradition for years to come."
(GB)