“Martin Scorsese is on the line.”
It’s a phrase most in Hollywood would give their left breast implant to hear — except in this case.
The legendary director was phoning Chuck Workman, a documentary filmmaker, about the annual Academy Awards “In Memoriam” montage, which honors those in the movie business who passed away the previous year.
It’s a simple premise, but assembling the death montage is an incredibly delicate and political task. Friends and relatives of the deceased often lobby to see that their special someone is included.
“Sometimes someone would say, ‘We gotta have so-and-so,’ ” says Workman, who worked on the tribute in the ’90s and ’00s. “Stan Brakhage, one of the greatest experimental filmmakers [who died in 2003] — what happened [with him] is Martin Scorsese called somebody and said, ‘I hope you’re putting Stan Brakhage in the ‘In Memoriam.’ ”
You better believe he made it in. Others, however, aren’t so lucky.
Technically, “In Memoriam” honors those who died the previous year, just as the ceremony honors films released in 2013. Because they passed away this year, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Harold Ramis, Sid Caesar and Shirley Temple shouldn’t be eligible. But big names who die early in the year the show airs often slip in — it happened with Heath Ledger, who passed on in January of 2008.
The academy generally includes about 40 people in the tribute, chosen by the Board of Governors, from all branches of the business: not just actors but costume directors, studio executives and others. The in-show piece runs for about four minutes, hardly enough time to include everyone — according to the academy’s Web site, more than 100 prominent people in film have died this past year.
Allen Haines, who produced the 2009 Oscars, says he was approached after the tribute aired by family members, hurt that their relative was left out.
“I’d get phone calls and e-mails,” he recalls. “No one came to my house, luckily. It’s hard to hear. I got a call from the son of a woman who deserved to be on the list but didn’t ultimately end up there. I sat and listened to him and let him vent and have his say.”
Even some bigger stars aren’t necessarily shoo-ins for inclusion.
“Often there’s controversy. I remember when Michael Jackson died,” says Workman. “I had done the film for his memorial, and I was all for putting him in this, but there were people that felt he was not big enough [in film].”
The bigger the name, the more screen time allotted during the montage. James Gandolfini, who passed away in June — three months before his critically acclaimed turn in “Enough Said” — is a good guess for someone who might get more than just a headshot.
“Some people, you’ll show one still [photo],” Workman says. “If there are two or three stills, that person was more important. I’d like to hope I get any stills!”
Some of the more prominent stars are remembered with multiple film clips from their career.
“It’s pretty obvious what the key moments are,” Haines says. “My background is making movie trailers. My career was about choosing the best small nuggets from a movie to make an impact.”
In 2009, for example, Haines immediately knew the tribute should end on the scene from “The Sting” in which Paul Newman (who died in ’08) touches the side of his nose as a signal.
The rights for clips must be cleared, although Haines says no studio ever turned him down.
One of the more sensitive aspects of the segment is the audience applause, and whether to let the viewers hear it.
“They would let the audience applause bleed into the music. I liked that. When you’re there, when you see that, it’s a very warm feeling. I always felt they should get that across,” says Workman. “But now I think they’re looking for a level playing field. But why? I mean, of course Shirley Temple is gonna get bigger applause than some film editor that died. I understand that! But they have their various political reasons.”
“We went round and round about applause,” says Haines, who worked on the segment for four months. “We talked about not potting up the microphones so you wouldn’t hear the various levels of applause.”
Ultimately, the crowd mics were left on.
“In the end, the applause is part of the excitement,” Haines adds. “That was a group decision.”
If Hoffman does make it, he’ll most likely be placed at the end of the montage, where the more recognizable names end up.
“He’ll get huge applause, obviously,” Workman says. “I mean, there will be people that won’t applaud. But the fact that he was young and a great actor — I would hold him back toward the end, if I were doing it.”
As for Ramis, who died just last week, “I doubt that they will fit Ramis into the piece, but they might,” says Haines. “That’s a last-minute call that someone at the Board of Governors makes.”
Then again, he might just make it in no matter what. Neil Meron, co-producer of this year’s awards, told “Entertainment Weekly” the show will have a “hero” theme — covering everything from inspirational characters to, as he said, “superheroes and characters like Harry Potter and Indiana Jones, or the Ghostbusters.” (Ramis co-wrote and co-starred in “Ghostbusters.”)
One thing’s for sure: “You wanna make [people] cry! As a filmmaker, if they cry, you feel like you’re getting somewhere,” says Workman. Ever since it was announced that Bette Midler would perform at the event, popular speculation has been that she’ll sing over the montage, just as Barbra Streisand did last year, crooning “The Way We Were.” (“Wind Beneath My Wings,” anyone?)
“I don’t want to be too tawdry and treacly and oversentimental, but it is a montage of people that you miss — you miss their work, you miss them,” says Workman. “A lot of the time they’re people that you know, or have worked with. I want to do right by them.”
—additional reporting by Gregory E. Miller