STUDIOS IN FULL COURT PRESS FOR ACADEMY AWARDS BEST PICTURE OSCAR WORTH MILLIONS IN TICKET, VIDEO, TV SALES.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Diane Lane, whom many initially considered a long shot for a best-actress Oscar nomination for ``Unfaithful,'' was prominently featured on the covers of The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety in recent weeks in hard-to-miss ``for your consideration'' ads.

Industry experts say that if such ads result in award nominations, there is much to be gained at the box office for such films as ``About Schmidt,'' ``Adaptation,'' ``The Gangs of New York'' and ``The Hours,'' which have yet to go into wide nationwide release, and in home video business for ``Unfaithful,'' released on home video this week.

``Since Dec. 1, the studios have pretty much committed to sizable campaigns for what they believe they have a shot at,'' said Lynne Segall, associate publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. ``(20th Century) Fox is really getting behind Diane Lane. They really believe she has a shot.''

Lane is among the performers who were the focus of costly promotional pushes by studios as the award season kicked into particularly high gear with this morning's announcement of the Golden Globe Award nominations.

The ``for your consideration'' ads aren't cheap. A cover in The Hollywood Reporter, for example, costs a whopping $30,000 a pop. A two-page color spread, like the one for ``Chicago'' last week, cost a cool $27,000, while a one-page inside display pushing Salma Hayak and other principals for ``Frida'' cost $13,000.

``The money that is being funneled into those ads is being (spent) with the hope that it will be made back many times,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., a box office tracking firm. ``What they spend on those ads could result in nominations and provide a film with additional box office revenue.''

Such groups as the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle have already announced their picks for the year. Lane surprised many by winning the best-actress award from the New York critics this week, and a new full-page ad touting her victory was already in place in Wednesday's issue of The Hollywood Reporter.

``It's a smart strategy,'' Dergarabedian said. ``Any awards they can capitalize on is fodder for the marketing mill.''

Other big winners have been ``About Schmidt,'' which got honors from the L.A. critics for best picture and whose star Jack Nicholson tied for best-actor honors with Daniel Day-Lewis of ``The Gangs of New York,'' and ``Far From Heaven,'' New York critics' choice for best picture, with star Julianne Moore taking the best-actress award from the L.A. critics and the National Board of Review. The board named ``The Hours'' best picture.

``About Schmidt'' and ``Adaptation'' received the most nominations - four apiece - from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, which announced its awards nominations Tuesday.

``It really is about the nominations,'' Dergarabedian said. ``It's like when you are holding the lottery ticket: You don't know that you're going to be a winner, but you don't know that you're not. You can milk it. What you are trying to do from that ... announcement of nominations to the awards is say, hey, we are contenders for the Oscar. Come see our film.''

It's not just actors who are getting the big-ad treatment. The studios behind animated films such as ``Ice Age,'' ``Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron'' and ``Lilo & Stitch'' are trying to draw attention to their titles since there are 17 potential contenders for the Oscar for best animated film.

While acting nominations and wins can bring some attention to a film, it is a best-picture nomination - and especially a win - that can elevate a film from modest success to blockbuster.

Some recent examples:

--Last year's Best Picture Oscar winner, ``A Beautiful Mind,'' had grossed $113.3 million before nominations. By Oscar night, it had climbed to $155 million and ended its run at $170.7 million.

--1999's ``American Beauty'' seemingly peaked at $75 million and was in only seven theaters when Oscar nominations came out. The next week, it was expanded to 1,287 theaters and had grossed $108 million by the day it won the Best Picture Oscar. Its final haul was $130 million.

--``Titanic'' was a monster hit in 1997 - $337 million - even before the Oscar nominations. After receiving multiple Oscar nods, the gross reached $495 million by the evening of the awards. After winning its Best Picture Academy Award, it ended its run with a gross of $600.8 million, the highest total for any movie ever.

``There is also so much at stake in getting nominations and Academy Awards because of what happens in the after-market - the money they can get for cable and broadcast TV,'' Segall said. ``They use that award leverage.''

The industry trade publications have a captive audience that includes the 5,739 people who are voting members of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars. With Oscar nominations not being announced until Feb. 11, the flood of ``for your consideration'' ads has only just begun.

``You are trying to create an impression and buzz and get people talking,'' Segall said. ``It's full awards season and will be from now until March.''

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