The Oscar winners are then determined by a second round of voting in
which all members are then allowed to vote in most categories, including
Best Picture.
Film companies will spend as much as several
million dollars on marketing to awards voters for a movie in the running
for Best Picture, in attempts to improve chances of receiving Oscars
and other movie awards conferred in Oscar season. The Academy enforces
rules to limit overt campaigning by its members so as to try to
eliminate excesses and prevent the process from becoming undignified. It
has an awards czar on staff who advises members on allowed practices
and levies penalties on offenders. For example, a producer of the 2010
Best Picture nominee, The Hurt Locker, was disqualified as a producer in
the category when he contacted associates urging them to vote for his
film and not another that was seen as front-runner (The Hurt Locker
eventually won).