Academy board won't fire PwC in spite of Best Picture blunder

Notwithstanding the Best Picture fiasco at the 89th Oscars last month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will retain services of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for the next ceremony — but with certain safeguards

Chaos on the Oscar stage after La La Land, instead of actual winner Moonlight, was named Best Picture

Notwithstanding the Best Picture fiasco at the 89th Oscars last month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will retain services of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for the next ceremony — but with certain safeguards.

During a meeting that last over six hours, the Academy's board of governors decided not to snap ties with PwC, which took full responsibility for this year's Oscars disaster in which the musical La La Land was wrongly announced as the winner of the prestigious Best Picture award. Moonlight had actually won.

It was the board's first in-person meeting since Oscar night, following a telephone conference call earlier in the month. Not surprising, the main topic of conversation was the Academy's relationship with PwC, the accounting firm that the Academy has retained to oversee its awards voting since 1934, and more recently, to handle its taxes and board of governors' voting as well.

PwC's US chairman Tim Ryan addressed the board for a portion of the meeting, again apologising for the 'human error' of Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, the PwC 'balloting leaders', who handed off the wrong envelope and failed to correct the mistake on time, respectively. The Academy had earlier confirmed that the two PwC accountants will not return to the prestigious awards ceremony stage.

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