Having Jeff Bridges do a voiceover during the Oscars?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does not abide.
Hyundai has pulled the actor’s voice from its ads airing during Sunday night’s broadcast because of a rule limiting the use of nominees in Oscars ads.
Bridges, nominated for the best actor award for his role in “Crazy Heart,” has voiced ads for the Korean automaker since 2007.
Hyundai, the only auto company advertising during the Oscars for a second straight year, will air seven ads during the show and one beforehand. Most will feature the company’s Sonata and Genesis sedans.
The stars replacing Bridges Sunday on the ABC broadcast will be Catherine Keener, Kim Basinger, David Duchovny, Richard Dreyfuss, Michael Madsen, Mandy Patinkin and Martin Sheen.
Hyundai spent two weeks testing new voiceovers after deciding it was too hard to separate its ads during the show to satisfy Academy rules.
Joel Ewanick, marketing vice president for Hyundai’s American arm, said the new voices will bring variety.
But Ewanick added in a statement: “We’ll be happy to return to our normal casting after the show.”
Oscars night is the year’s biggest for movies – and the second-biggest for advertisers after the Super Bowl.
A 30-second ad during the awards show typically sells for about $1.7 million, according to Kantar Media. By comparison, a 30-second slot during the Super Bowl costs about $3 million.
Hyundai’s sales have risen the past year as it positioned its cars as economical during the recession and offered buyers insurance in case they lose their jobs after buying a new Hyundai.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More