自拍照和“吐槽微博”：社交媒体时代的奥斯卡吸金新道

    如果问起哪部电影获得了去年的奥斯卡最佳影片奖？不见得每个人都能脱口而出。（正确答案是：《为奴十二年》）但即便是最严重的“奥斯卡失忆症”患者，也能回想起颁奖典礼主持人艾伦抓拍下的那张在Twitter上大火的自拍照，那是一个历史性的时刻。

    艾伦拉上安吉丽娜•朱莉、布拉德•皮特、朱莉娅•罗伯茨、梅丽尔•斯特里普以及詹妮弗•劳伦斯等大牌明星，拍了一张超级抢眼的合照，这一无心之举把老派的奥斯卡颁奖典礼一把推进了数字时代的深水区，它在Twitter上获得了340万次转发，并给上届奥斯卡颁奖礼带来了近14年以来的最佳收视业绩，观众总数达到了4500万。

    与克雷格•扎丹同为奥斯卡颁奖典礼制片人的尼尔•梅龙表示：“我们打破了[收视]纪录，我们也玩坏了Twitter。那一晚，我们沐浴在奥斯卡众神的光芒中。”

    突然间，社交媒体成了“奥斯卡经济”中的重磅环节，既是颁奖礼吸引眼球的途径，又是相关利益方——从播放该典礼的美国广播公司（ABC），到各家广告商，再到希望通过增加曝光度获得更大、更好的演出机会（以及更高薪水）的当红新星——创收的一种方式。

    艾伦那张自拍照是用三星智能手机拍摄的。据阳狮广告公司事后估算，这张照片为三星公司带来了8-10亿美元收入，这证明，假如你有产品需要兜售，社交网站分享+名人+电视直播是产品大卖的不二法门。

    以上三个要素，也是获得超高收视率的法宝。

    谈到今年2月22日的奥斯卡颁奖礼直播，梅龙表示：“我们正主动与所有社交媒体平台接触，因为去年在此方面获得了巨大成功，我们希望利用今年能更上一层楼。”梅龙戏称，正在与Twitter、Facebook、Instagram等社交媒体巨头进行“集体约会”。

    梅龙与扎丹这对黄金搭档，也是最近NBC翻拍《音乐之声》和《小飞侠》等音乐剧以及一系列电影和百老汇热门剧的操盘手。今年是他们第三年操刀奥斯卡颁奖典礼，他们将再次为观众献上一场有大牌歌手助兴的活力盛宴（2013年，他们邀请到了芭芭拉•史翠珊，2012年，请到的是U2乐队），还会有不少观众尚未看过（或者看不到）的小影片入围。

    扎丹称：“很多人知道自己一分钱也拿不到，还是会来参加奥斯卡颁奖礼。主持人的报酬十分微薄，表演者也拿不到几毛钱，颁奖嘉宾更是分文不取。没人能拿到多少钱，但大家还是会来参加，因为我们想要成为奥斯卡颁奖典礼的一部分。”

    按照演员工会的薪酬守则，2015年奥斯卡颁奖礼主持人尼尔•帕特里克•哈里斯应获得超过1.5万美元的报酬，而史翠珊这样的顶级歌手每演唱一首非提名歌曲，至少要收取2400美元的报酬。（至于说深情演唱一首提名歌曲？起步价3,500美元。）

    财务记录显示，2013年，非营利机构美国电影艺术与科学学院通过举办奥斯卡颁奖典礼，获得了9380万美元的收入，同比增长400万美元。其中大部分收入来自ABC的母公司迪士尼，根据双方签订的合同，迪士尼每年向美国电影艺术与科学学院支付7500万美元，以获得奥斯卡颁奖典礼的转播权，该合同将于2020年到期。

    2013年，奥斯卡颁奖礼的相关花费将近4000万美元，包括雇用数千名员工、建造舞台布景、筹划万众瞩目的演出、铺设长长的红地毯。入围者身穿昂贵定制礼服、戴着借来的价值百万珠宝走过红毯。美国电影艺术与科学学院还为耗资180万美元的年度奥斯卡颁奖礼晚宴买单。这场星光熠熠的会后晚宴，由名厨沃尔夫冈•帕克操刀，嘉宾们可以畅饮香槟，尽享鱼子酱比萨和松露等美食。

    （截至本文发稿时，美国电影艺术与科学学院2014年的财务数据尚未出炉。）

    Not everyone remembers which film won Best Picture at last year’s Academy Awards (Answer: 12 Years a Slave). But even the most acute Oscar amnesiac will recall the defining moment when host Ellen DeGeneres snapped the Twitter selfie seen ’round the world.

    In a fresh burst of spontaneity, DeGeneres pushed the old-school ceremony into the digital-era deep end, wrangling the likes of Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence to participate in a splashy group photo that gained 3.4 million retweets and helped bring the show its best numbers in 14 years with 45 million viewers.

    “We broke records and we broke Twitter,” said Neil Meron, who produces the big event alongside Craig Zadan. “The Oscar gods shone very bright on us that night.”

    Suddenly, social media became a No. 1 heavy hitter in the Oscars Economy — a way to drive eyeballs to the broadcast and create revenue for all the players involved, from host network ABC to the advertisers to the rising stars hoping the increased exposure will lead to bigger and better acting opportunities (plus a salary bump).

    The DeGeneres selfie stunt — captured on a Samsung smartphone — fetched an estimated $800 million to $1 billion for the tech company, ad agency Publicis boasted afterward, making the case that social shares plus celebrities plus live television equals big bucks if you’ve got a product to hawk.

    Or ratings pressure to live up to.

    “What we’re doing is specifically reaching out to all the platforms on social media — and because we had such tremendous success last year with it — we want to capitalize on that success and grow it,” said Meron of this year’s Feb. 22 telecast, teasing “massing engagement” with social powerhouses like Twitter TWTR 2.34% , Facebook FB 0.31% and Instagram.

    Their third year at the helm, Meron and Zadan — the savvy team behind recent NBC musical revivals of Sound of Music and Peter Pan as well as a string of movie and Broadway hits — will again add pizzazz with boldfaced singers, on the level of Barbra Streisand (in 2013) and U2 (2014), to dangle before viewers who have yet to see (or may not have access to) many of the smaller films honored.

    “We get a lot of people who come to it knowing that they’re not going to make any money,” said Zadan. “The host doesn’t make more than two cents, and performers make two cents, and presenters don’t make any money. Nobody makes any money, but you’re doing it because you want to be part of the Oscars.”

    The 2015 emcee, Neil Patrick Harris, will earn upward of $15,000 per union guidelines, while a top-tier singer such as Streisand collects at least $2,400 to perform a non-nominated song. (Crooning a tune that’s up for an award? That’s a starting fee of $3,500.)

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit, made $93.8 million off the Oscars in 2013, a $4 million boost from the year before, according to financial records. A significant chunk of that pile came courtesy of ABC parent company Disney DIS 7.63% via a $75 million-a-year contract to air the show that expires in 2020.

    Meanwhile, the organization that year racked up almost $40 million in awards-associated expenses including the costs of hiring thousands of staff, building the set, staging the crowd-pleasing performances and rolling out a seemingly endless red carpet on which nominees parade in expensive custom gowns and tuxes and million-dollar borrowed jewels. The organization also footed the $1.8 million bill for the annual Governors Ball, the glitzy after-party catered by Wolfgang Puck and his flowing champagne, caviar-encrusted pizzas and many, many truffles.

    (The Academy did not have 2014’s financial data available at publication time.)