Academy prepares for frenzy

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - 5:38:30 a.m. -- That's the moment Hollywood hype turns hyperactive.\nIt's the precise time Tuesday morning when the 76th annual Academy Award nominations will be announced to the world, creating a frenzy among all who make movies, make money from movies or make time to see movies.\nAlmost a week before the clamor, a small army of behind-the-scenes men and women met in a shadowy theater on the third floor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters to plot the details of "nominations eve."\nAs the contenders are announced, big-time actors will eye the live television broadcast, hungry to hear their own names.\nThen squads of publicists, managers, agents and stylists will scramble to get the nominees: a) attention, b) better scripts, c) bigger money and d) new outfits flashy enough to make People magazine, yet subdued enough to dodge snarking from E! carpet maven Joan Rivers.\nBack at the studios, marketing executives will relaunch months-old movies with ad campaigns touting their nominations in a bid to spin hot Oscar buzz into cold box-office cash.\nAnd it all starts at the Academy. On Wednesday afternoon, about 40 staffers gathered for a read-through that outlined where employees should be and what they'll be doing prior to the nominations.\nAbove all came the warning: loose lips can spoil the fun.\n"The only reason for the secrecy is to make it more fun," said Academy Director of Communications John Pavlik. "It builds suspense"