‘Crash’ Producer Loses His Bid for Oscar Credit

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected Thursday an appeal by Bob Yari, the financier of best-picture nominee “Crash,” ruling that the film’s Oscar-night producer credits would exclude Yari in favor of director Paul Haggis and Yari’s estranged producing partner Cathy Schulman.

In turning down Yari’s appeal, the academy accepted the “Crash” credits as determined in December by the Producers Guild of America, which had named Haggis and Schulman as the only two producers of “Crash.”

The guild had ruled that four other people who were listed on the film’s credits as producers did not fulfill enough job duties to qualify for the title: Yari, Mark Harris, actor Don Cheadle and co-writer Bobby Moresco.

Yari had been so unhappy with the Producers Guild’s ruling that he had contemplated legal action against the trade organization and sued Schulman for breach of contract and fraud. Rather than bring a legal action against the guild, Yari appealed to the academy, which has the ability to overturn the guild’s credits decision.

The academy, after having reviewed written submissions from both Yari and the Producers Guild but without taking live testimony, agreed that the guild’s ruling was proper, two people familiar with the case said.

The academy declined to comment on either the decision or its process in reaching it. The guild also declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Yari said he had not yet been notified of the academy’s decision and therefore declined to comment.

The “Crash” dispute comes in the first year that the academy is formally following the guild’s determination on who is eligible for the top Oscar. The pact with the guild is part of a six-year academy effort to rein in the frequently abused credit.

In 1999’s ceremony, five producers of “Shakespeare in Love,” including Miramax Film Corp. then-co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein, rushed to the stage to accept that film’s best-picture trophy.

The academy now limits to three the number of people who can be nominated as producers of a best-picture contender.

“Crash” is not the only film among this year’s best-picture nominees to have a disputed producer credit. Four names were submitted to the Producers Guild for “Munich,” but the guild culled the list to three, cutting a producer credit for Colin Wilson.