Actress Psychic Contest
Predicting the Best Actress Nominees of Jan 2009 in March 2008
The Contestants / The Collective Prediction

POSSIBLE CONTENDERS
Here's a rundown of 50+ Actress Possibilities.
You may select someone who is not on this list if you want.
Amy Adams to Sienna Miller and Helen Mirren to Renée Zellweger

 

entries are now closed. We have nearly 200 competitors for the second edition of this contest.
Contestants were asked to send an e-mail to Nathaniel (your contest host) anywhere between March 12th and March 29th with "PSYCHIC" in the subject line ...

IT HAD TO CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

1. Your Full Name & Mailing Adress (this information will be kept private and not sold)

2. The Name you'd like to be called on the contest pages

3. The Names of 5 women you're predicting who will be nominated for the Lead Actress Oscar for the 2008 Film Year (here's a cheat sheet of some possibilities though you can pick names that aren't listed if you know of them and be forewarned that all release dates are subject to change).
PLEASE NOTE: You must include the name of the film since some actresses are in more than one feature.
PLEASE NOTE 2: You may not select one woman twice for two different movies. Your list has to be a theoretically possible shortlist and the Academy does not allow for two nominations for actors in the same category.

4. An answer to this tie-breaker question in the case of a tie.
"How many nominations will Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road get?"

No need to specify which nominations, just a number from 0 to whatever;)

 

WHAT THEN?
Contestants accumulate points throughout the year for their choices. I will periodically update a "contestants page" with point totals so you can see how everyone is doing.

HOW DOES ONE WIN?
The two people with the most points from their 5 prophesied nominees win best actress related prizes (See last year for an example. This year's prizes TBA)

POINTS? WHY POINTS?

In order to make the game more interesting (i.e. not completely beholden to January's Oscar Nominee Announcement) you can gain points for lots of things. So, if your candidate is a noticeable Oscar snub you still have some points for that candidate because they've been "in play" throughout the season.

* Your host reserves the right to make minor changes to the point systems if he comes up with any new ideas or has forgotten something important that a candidate should win points for.

Contest Points accumulate from 04/01/08 through the morning of the Oscar nomination announcement in January.

box office
The (recent) average gross of a best actress nominated film prior to the nominee announcement is approximately $27 million but many aren't even in the 8 figures.

+1 when your film actually opens
+1 if her film crosses $27 million

general media points
(I know this is EW centric but I have to pick things I can easily track
+1 NYT Sunday Magazine or NYT Style Magazine Cover
+1 Cover of Film Comment
+1 Cover of Interview
+2 Part of People Magazine's Most Beautiful Issue ( -1 if they're not part of the big list but featured in one of the many group pages therein)
+2 Hosts Saturday Night Live
+2 Entertainment Weekly Cover (large photo)
(Additions and subtractions: +2 if cover uses the word "Oscar" in relation to your candidate * Shared covers -1 point for each additional person on the cover OR if it's a small picture)
+3 Vanity Fair cover
+3 Entertainment Weekly names as an "Entertainer of the Year" OR includes in "Great Performances" section of their Best of 2007 issue OR chosen as the "FYC" but not actually predicted Oscar candidate in the Oscar Prediction issue

festival points
+1 her film plays at Cannes (+2 if her film wins any prize OR + 5 if that prize is an acting win for your candidate)
+1 her film plays at Venice (+3 if she wins an Acting prize)
+2 her film plays at Toronto (+1 if the film wins the audience award)
+2 her film wins any prize at Cannes (+5 instead if it's an acting win for your candidate)
+3 Serves on jury at Cannes

Critics Awards
+1 for each minor critics org prize (*leading only, maximum of 3 points)
+2 Your candidates film is at 85% or higher on the TomatoMeter at Rotten Tomatoes one month after their film premieres (most movies start out with a very high score. It always drops)
+3 Your candidate is nominated for a leading actress Award here at the Film Experience --hey, it's my contest I can do what I want ;) Readers will know that I take my site awards way too seriously to be swayed by your guesswork.
+5 Your candidate wins the LAFCA, NYFCC, or the NSFC award (Only +1 if the prize is in supporting instead. Maximum 10 points --even if they win all three)

Precursors & Oscars
+1 Honored at the Gotham Awards
+1 Nominated for a Golden Satellite (lead only)
+1 Nominated for OFCS (lead only)
+2 Their film makes the AFI Top Ten List
+2 Nominated for Indie Spirit Award

+3 Nominated for BAFTA

Additions and Subtractions to the 3 points:
-2 if the nomination is in supporting
-1 if there are more than 5 nominees in that category

+3 Nominated for BFCA (+2 extra if they win but ONLY in lead category. no points for winning in a special category)

Additions and Subtractions to the 2 points:
-1 if the nomination is in any special category OTHER THAN lead.
-1 if there are more than 5 nominees in that category

+4 Wins an NBR award

Additions and Subtractions to the 10 points:
-1 if the honor is a "tie"
-1 if it's outside the typical "Best Actress" honor

+10 Nominated for a SAG Award (EXCLUDING ensemble)

Additions and Subtractions to the 10 points:
-5 if the nomination is supporting instead.
+2 if the performance is in a foreign language OR if it marks their first SAG nomination outside of "ensemble"
+1 if their film is nominated for ensemble as well

+10 Nominated for a Golden Globe (+2 extra if they win but ONLY in lead category and only if the ceremony is before the Oscar nominations are announced)

Additions and Subtractions to the 10 points:
-6 if it's supporting
+2 if it's their first Globe nomination (no additions for supporting)
-2 if it's nomination 6 or higher with the HFPA
-2 if there is more than 5 people in the category

+25 Nominated for an Oscar

Additions to the 25 points:
+5 extra points if it's their first Oscar nomination.
+3 if they appear on less than 25% of the actress psychic contest entries
+2 extra points if Lead Actress is the films only nomination
OR if the performance is in a foreign language
OR if they are nominated for a film that's grossed less than $3 million OR if they were also nominated in the Musical/Comedy division at the Globes
+2 if the film openedbefore September

Subtractions to the 25 points:
-15 if the nomination is for supporting instead
-5 if they appear on 75% or more of the actress psychic contest entries
-2 if they're a previous Oscar winner OR if this nomination is their 5th or higher with AMPAS OR if the film opened in December OR if they're playing a real person

 

IS THAT IT?
Isn't that enough?

 

GOOD LUCK