要想拿獎，得砸下幾百萬美元。

2月29日早9：30（美國當地時間2月28日），第88屆奧斯卡金像獎面向全球直播頒獎，吸引了約3000-4000萬美國觀眾。然而，獎項的角逐早在直播之前就已悄悄展開。對此，《財富》雜志網站采訪了多位深諳奧斯卡大獎季的操作人士。據他們介紹，對那些有幸獲得提名的演員和制片商來說，爭奪小金人的過程一點不比拍電影輕松。

熟知好萊塢影視操作的人都知道，在奧斯卡金像獎的各項提名公之于眾后，會進入一個讓人興奮的、俗稱為“第二時段”的活動期（相對應的，之前叫做“第一時段”）。這段時間就是獲得提名的演員和制片商的游說時間。這有點像“總統競選”。

辛西婭?施瓦茲所在的娛樂公關公司Strategy PR/Consulting負責為《歸來者》、《史蒂夫?喬布斯》、《45年》和《房間》做奧斯卡獎宣傳。她評價：“這段時間非常忙亂，要參加各種各樣的活動。先去領美國演員工會獎，然后去英國參加英國影視藝術學院電影獎角逐，再趕回來。得到處出差。很多時候，提名電影還得去海外市場宣傳，也得擠出時間。”

施瓦茲為《撞車》、《低俗小說》、《芝加哥》、《拆彈部隊》等多部贏得奧斯卡提名的影片做過幕后宣傳。她說：“大家都想把提名當成推廣工具。所以這幾周日程非常緊湊。”

競逐之路

進入奧斯卡獎的淘汰環節后，各位獲得提名者要在多個活動中走紅毯，在新聞發布會上微笑留影，和媒體寒暄，與學院評委們觥籌交錯，還要跟評委們自拍合影。此外，他們還要出席多個電影業評判委員會和等級低于奧斯卡的獎項開幕式。

在第一時段，各大電影制片公司可能投入1000萬美元用于廣告宣傳、制作專供評委和影評人觀看的內部預覽版光碟；還要舉辦豐盛的自助餐、音樂會和香檳酒會招待評委。

第二時段規則

美國電影藝術與科學學院制定了一系列規則，指導獲得獎項提名者在第二時段宣傳各自的影片和取得的成績，規管該階段里所謂的“增加附加值機會”。

其中首要的一條規則是：任何評選活動均不包括招待會和其他供應食品或飲料的活動。在介紹影片主創的問答環節結束后，不得進行超過四次放映（以此限制影片投票期間的明星效應）。在爭取提名階段，秉持的是“發動一切力量搖旗吶喊、博得喝彩”的營銷理念，而第二時段拼的則是推廣思路，因為每周只能發送一封宣傳電郵，也只能送給每位評選一張DVD提名候選片光碟。

每年從美國的勞動節（9月第一個星期一——譯者注）到圣誕節，是非正式的沖獎季節，一年里最有份量的電影紛紛上映。這幾個月里，各類機構的評委會投票選出奧斯卡各獎項的提名。比如導演評委會選出最佳導演獎項提名者，錄音剪輯師、服裝設計師等專業人士也會選出各自領域的提名者（因此奧斯卡頒獎典禮或許可以稱為最引人矚目的業內精英認證大會）。不過，第二時段不會有來自機構的投票，美國電影藝術與科學學院的全體成員都可以為各個獎項投票。

奧斯卡頒獎前的各類工會獎是關鍵

戰略分析師認為，這就是為什么奧斯卡提名者出席各類工會獎，不管是頒獎還是提名都很重要。這三大工會獎包括分別于1月23日、1月30日和2月6日頒發的美國制片人工會獎、美國演員工會獎和美國導演工會獎。除了讓贏得提名者提高獲獎自信，出席這些獎項其實和美國大選初選有異曲同工之妙：讓獲提名者保持公眾曝光，也有機會和廣大潛在投票者面對面接觸。

但第二時段不只提供了大量拍照的機會，還關系到角逐風向的重大轉變，直接導致一些后來居上的大逆轉。2011年，《國王的演講》在評選期間一直不為眾多影評家看好，落后于《社交網絡》，直到宣布奧斯卡提名當天，才開始展現黑馬之姿，最終一舉奪得最佳影片、最佳男主角、最佳導演和最佳原創劇本四項奧斯卡大獎。最后一刻翻盤的經歷同樣出現在2013年，本?阿弗萊克并沒獲得奧斯卡獎最佳導演獎提名，可他執導的《逃離德黑蘭》卻在第二時段能量爆發，最終奪得最佳影片和最佳改編劇本大獎，上演了一出灰姑娘變公主的好戲。

今年，雖然在整個獲獎季都被《聚焦》甩在身后，但《大空頭》已經后程發力，躋身最有可能奪走奧斯卡最佳影片獎的領跑者之列，部分原因是該片已經拿下美國制片人工會獎。

是否太過關注得獎？

施瓦茲是業內普遍視為最優秀的獎項宣傳人士之一，她的聲望來自每年同對手電影公司競爭推廣影片的資歷。和一些業內人士一樣，她也認為，第二時段經歷了由電影業內部關注到公眾關注的變化，轉變的過程也與媒體報道奧斯卡獎項角逐的時間一致。如今，提名者雀屏中選的幾率要看每天的輿情，有時甚至要關注每小時風向變化。

“起先，媒體主要報道影片內容，但現在變成了類似體育賽事的報道，主要關注‘誰得獎機會上升了？誰陣勢下去了？’”施瓦茲說，“真是遺憾。報道視角的偏移讓人忽視了獲得提名本身的榮譽。其實得到提名本來就是一件光榮的事。如果提名沒有那么重要，為什么像‘奧斯卡太白’這種質疑白人提名者太多的話題會引起不滿？人們在乎的就是提名！”

作者克里斯?李曾是美國娛樂雜志《娛樂周刊》（Entertainment Weekly）、《洛杉磯時報》（The Los Angeles Times）、《新聞周刊》（Newsweek）和新聞網站《每日野獸》（The Daily Beast）的專職撰稿人。他在洛杉磯做娛樂、文化與商業報道。

譯者：Pessy

校對：夏林

It costs millions.

Oscar watchers won’t know the big winners until Sunday when the 88th Academy Awards are broadcast to a projected national audience of somewhere between 30- and 40 million viewers. But the awards race quietly reached the finish line with the official end of Oscar voting on Feb. 23 — a deadline that caps the frenzied, 33-day span of last-minute campaigning known among Hollywood insiders as “Phase 2.”

Kicking off Jan. 22 with the Academy Awards nominations announcement, Phase 2 involves no small amount of legwork for the actors and filmmakers being honored in marquee categories, according to several awards season veterans contacted by Fortune.com.

“It’s a very hectic time,” says Cynthia Swartz, whose firm Strategy PR/Consulting is running Oscar campaigns for The Revenant, Steve Jobs, 45 Yearsand Room. “It’s going to the various events. You’ve got the [Screen Actors Guild] awards, then you go to the UK for the BAFTAs. Then you come back. There’s a lot of traveling. And a lot of the time, films have to do international promotion so they’re trying to shoehorn that in.”

Swartz has worked behind the scenes on campaigns for such Oscar-anointed films as Crash, Pulp Fiction, Chicago and The Hurt Locker. She adds, “Everyone wants to utilize the nominations as a marketing tool to drive business. It’s a very compressed several weeks.”

The campaign trail

Just to reach this Oscars’ knock-out round, the nominees have already strolled a procession of red carpets at gala events, smiled for cameras at press meet-and-greets and raised toasts and posed for selfies with Academy voters — in addition to attending numerous industry panels and lower tier awards ceremonies.

And during Phase 1, major movie studios can spend as much as $10 million on ad campaigns, watermarked screeners; and feting balloters with lavish buffets, concerts and champagne receptions.

The rules of Phase 2

A demanding set of rules laid down by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences governs how nominees can promote their films and performances during Phase 2, regulating what are known as “value-added opportunities.”

Chief among them: “no screening event may include a reception or otherwise offer complimentary food or beverages.” No more than four screenings followed by question-and-answer sessions featuring the talent from the films (thereby limiting the overall effect of star power on balloting). And unlike the nomination phase, where a “let’s run everything up the flagpole and see who salutes” marketing mentality reigns, Phase 2 maintains a limit of one promotional email per week and just a single screener DVD to each member.

Over the months that unofficially comprise awards season — roughly from Labor Day through Christmas when the year’s most prestigious movies reach the theatrical marketplace — Oscar nominations in specific categories are voted upon by members of various branches. Directors vote for directors. Sound editors vote for sound editors. Costume designers, for costume designers, and so on (hence the Oscars’ renown as perhaps the world’s most glamorous employee recognition party). During Phase 2, however, the silos between the branches vanish and every Academy member can vote in every category.

Guild awards before the Oscars are key

Which is why, according to awards strategists, nominees’ attendance as both presenters and nominees at various guild awards — the big three being the Producers Guild Awards (Jan. 23), The Directors Guild Awards (Feb. 6) and the Screen Actors Guild Awards (Jan. 30) — becomes crucial. Above and beyond furthering perceptions of themselves as winners, such appearances function as campaign stops not unlike an election primary: they give those nominated a chance to press the flesh with a wide swath of potential voters while remaining squarely in the public eye.

But more than the sum of its photo opportunities, Phase 2 is associated with momentum shifts that can result in stunning come-from-behind victories. In 2011, after trailing The Social Network across a raft of critics awards in the lead-up to Oscar nomination day, the historical biopic The King’sSpeech began a dark-horse run that ultimately yielded Academy Awards for best picture, best actor, best director and best screenplay. Likewise, after Ben Affleck was snubbed by the Academy in the best director category in 2013, Argo found a burst of new energy during Phase 2 that resulted in Oscars for best picture and best adapted screenplay to become the year’s Cinderella story.

And this year, after trailing Spotlight throughout awards season, The Big Short has surged to the front of the pack as the odds-on favorite to take home the Academy Award for the Best Picture, in part due to the fact that it won the Producers Guild Award.

Is there too much attention on winning?

Swartz, widely considered one of the best awards campaigners in the business, has cultivated thisreputation by working on competing films from rival studios on any given year. Still, she is among those who think the evolution of Phase 2 from an industry concern into a matter of public scrutiny has coincided with media coverage of the awards race.Nowadays, gurus of gold handicap nominee odds on a daily — and sometimes hourly — basis.

“It went from being something the press primarily covered the films to being this thing of, ‘Who’s up? Who’s down?’ Really aggressively covering it like a sport,” Swartz said. “That’s unfortunate. It’s taken away from the honor of just being nominated. They really are honored to be nominated. If it isn’t an honor to be nominated, then why is everybody so upset by #OscarsSoWhite? People care about the nominations!”

Chris Lee is a former staff writer for Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He covers entertainment, culture and business in Los Angeles.