Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 March 4

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March 4

Oscar Ceremony: Seating order

Is there any information available, how the seating order (seat assignments) at the Oscar ceremony is established? Of course, speakers and potential winners sit up front. But - example given - why was Travolta seated among the crew of 12 Years a Slave? Personal preferences..? GEEZER^{nil nisi bene} 07:38, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

Per Alfred Hitchcock, actors are treated like cattle, to be herded to their seats. The decision once rested with Otto Spoerri, the "controller for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1978 to 2002" "who for more than two decades dispensed the tickets and seated the stars at the annual Academy Awards ceremony".[1] Clarityfiend (talk) 17:52, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, that supplies me with some keywords to keep on searching. GEEZER^{nil nisi bene} 21:55, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

Here's a bit more info on some of the rules he used.[2] Clarityfiend (talk) 04:23, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Great! There is the name of the new director!

Fragile egos have been known to be reduced to tears if they’re not happy with their placing — but another cause of angst is who they are seated near. <sigh> If we only could write in this style in WP <siiiiiiigh>. GEEZER^{nil nisi bene} 08:07, 5 March 2014 (UTC)