Oscars Go Interactive with Tweeting Moms, Apps, Live Streams
It may have been a down year at the box office but Oscar organizers plan to take their social media and online fan engagement to the next level this year. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences presents its 83rd annual award show Sunday night. But the festivities have already begun online.
Oscar.com is laid out with the movie aficionado in mind, with the expected streaming video hyping the already-too-hyped event but also sections highlighting the top nominated films of the year. There's also a personalized "My Oscars" section of the site.
On Facebook, the Oscar statuette is actively pursuing questions for red carpet stars from its 150,000-plus fans. The Academy is also engaging fans and giving away free swag on Twitter.
ABC Digital's Oscars Backstage Pass app for iPhone will have livestreams from multiple camera angles.
"We know that, more and more, people watching television are also engaging with some other device. We want that second device to have related, complementary content on it," Ric Robertson, executive administrator at the Academy and the man behind the Oscar show's social media outreach told Reuters.
Robertson is going with the kitchen sink approach in catering to the habits of easily-distracted movie buffs. The Oscars website will feature user-streamed video and shots from 24 camera angles on the red carpet on Oscar night. There's an official app for the iPhone and other apps for Android (E! Red Carpet) and Blackberry.
And there's James Franco's mom. @Francosmom and grandmother are among those in the Oscar-mommy community getting shout-outs from The Academy. "The Fighter" director David O. Russell (@Orussellsmom) "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich's mother (@EmilieUnkrich) and others, are expected to live tweet the Oscars as well, according to Reuters.