“One of the dirty secrets of this time of year is that the money that is spent on the Oscars — hundreds of millions of dollars on television and trade ads, parties, and shipping DVDs to academy members — can never be recouped even by the most spectacular post-awards bounce. None of last year’s contenders surpassed the $100 million mark in domestic box office. All that money is, in part, the price tag on ego — of making sure that the captains of this industry have something in the trophy case when all is said and done.” — from David Carr‘s 2.12.07 N.Y. Times piece about Oscar credit skirmishes.