Oscar tribute is touching, but agonizing

By The Associated Press | Published: March 5, 2010 | Modified: March 5, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Chuck Workman AP Photo

/> "It’s a killer because we have hundreds of members that pass each year and we can’t get them all in,” says SAG Awards producer Kathy Connell.

The film academy gives its final list of in-memoriam honorees to the producer of the segment just days before the big show. Chuck Workman, who is producing the memorial montage for Sunday’s telecast, says he was working with a temporary list until last week.

Many of the names made the final cut, he says, but some did not.

"It’s a constant balance for the academy,” says Workman, who has 20 years of experience making film montages for the Oscar show. "They do try their best, but there’s only so many spots.”

Workman says his first step would normally be to choose "some schmaltzy music” to accompany the segment, but this year the music "is coming directly from something they’re doing for the show.”

Workman’s task, then, is to find footage and photographs that best represent the 30 or so people in the memorial piece. He looks for images that "they would be proud of, their families would be proud of and the people in the audience would be proud of.”

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