And The Winner Isn't
documentary film by Panic, 86 min
© Panic Film Limited
What does it really take to win an Oscar?
For Geoffrey Moore, the answer begins with a song.
The son of legendary actor Sir Roger Moore KBE, Geoffrey has written and recorded a song for UNICEF with one simple ambition: to raise as much money as possible for the charity. But to give the song the greatest possible exposure, he has set himself an extraordinary challenge — to make it eligible for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
There is, however, one small problem: Geoffrey has no Hollywood studio behind him, no major marketing budget and no army of publicists. Instead, he sets off for Los Angeles with his 18-year-old daughter Ambra and a plan that is equal parts audacious, optimistic and improbable.
The mission is twofold. First, they must make a documentary exploring what it actually takes to win an Oscar. Then they must persuade celebrities to appear in a music video for Geoffrey’s song, each star miming a few words of the track. The ultimate prize? Jay Z and Beyoncé.
Geoffrey believes that if they can create enough publicity around the film and the song, Academy voters will see the movie, hear the song and, perhaps, cast their votes in its favour. Any success would ultimately serve the real purpose behind the project: raising money for UNICEF.
But Hollywood is not easily persuaded.
Geoffrey and Ambra arrive in Los Angeles and find themselves living not in the glamour of Hollywood, but in a sweltering Airstream Traveler parked in the front garden of a friend’s luxurious Brentwood home. With money running out, the glamorous world they have come to infiltrate feels tantalisingly close — yet almost impossible to access.
Phone calls lead to receptionists. Receptionists lead to assistants. Assistants lead to publicists. And, more often than not, the trail ends there.
Their director, Nik Panic, begins to wonder whether there will be enough material to make a film at all. With no conventional crew and precious little money, the production is being held together by determination, improvisation and a growing list of unanswered calls.
Then, slowly, doors begin to open.
Drawing on his connections in the music and film industries, Geoffrey starts securing interviews with people who understand the mysterious machinery behind Hollywood’s most coveted prize. They reveal the uncomfortable truth about the Oscar race: talent and a great film are only part of the equation. Publicity, campaigning, marketing, money and access can be just as important.
But there is a catch.
The investors who have promised to finance the film are slow to release the money. The marketing budget — the very thing everyone insists is essential to an Oscar campaign — is effectively zero.
While Geoffrey chases the secrets of the Academy, Ambra begins her own relentless campaign. Armed with a telephone, persistence and the extraordinary calling card of being Sir Roger Moore’s granddaughter, she cold-calls agents, publicists and celebrities, asking them to take part in the music video. Some agree because of the UNICEF cause. Others are intrigued by the family connection. One by one, celebrities begin to mime their way into the project.
And always, Ambra has her sights set higher – Jay Z and Beyoncé.
Then tragedy strikes. The death of Sir Roger Moore brings a deeply personal dimension to the increasingly frantic quest. For Geoffrey and Ambra, the project becomes more than an attempt to win an Oscar. It becomes a way of carrying forward Roger’s extraordinary legacy of humanitarian work and his commitment to UNICEF.
But time is running out.
The Academy deadline is approaching. The money still isn’t there. The film is unfinished. The music video is incomplete. And the very publicity campaign that could make the project visible remains largely out of reach.
With no time left for perfection, Geoffrey makes a final decision. Whatever material they have must become a movie. Nik is told to take what they have, edit it together, attach the music video and finish the film.
And so, against the odds, the documentary reaches the starting line of the very race it has spent months trying to understand.
A journey through Hollywood’s elusive Oscar machine, “And The Winner Isn’t” is also a story about ambition, family, persistence and the lengths people will go to when the odds are stacked against them – all in the hope that one song, one film and one impossible dream might ultimately make a difference for UNICEF.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
SIR ROGER MOORE, KBE
1927 – 2017
DIRECTOR
Nik Panic
WRITERS
Nik Panic & Geoffrey Moore
PRODUCERS
Geoffrey Moore
Ambra Moore
Nik Panic
Chiara Geronzi
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Alan Howard
Michael de Picciotto
Diana D’Hendecourt
Rafic Said
Katerina Thermiotis
Laurent-Paul Robert
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Nik Panic
EDITOR
Nick Price
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Laurent-Paul Robert
PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER
Nik Panic
RE-RECORDING SOUND MIXER
Michael Koderisch
SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR
Cristina Aragon
DIALOGUE EDITOR
Chips Paul
SOUND EDITOR
Scott Rockingham
COLOURIST
Nick Price
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Tamalah Panic
TRANSPORTATION CAPTAIN
Geoffrey Moore
CELEBRITY BOOKER / CASTING / WARDROBE
Ambra Moore
PRODUCTION LEGAL SERVICES
Debbie Von Arx, VA Partners LLP
ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE
Dan Gutt
Jonathan Abrams
Chase DuBois
Ambra Moore
Luisa Moore
Sir Roger Moore
Tamalah Panic
CATERING
Geoffrey Moore
HAIR (PRODUCTS)
Paul Mitchell (in, at least, one shot of Geoffrey)
PUBLICITY
Loulou Moore
SOCIAL MEDIA
Ambra Moore
Tamalah Panic
SONGS
U N I (You and I)
Written by Geoffrey Moore & Nigel Martinez
Produced by Nigel Martinez
Performed by Geoffrey Moore & Naya Rivera
Special appearance on guitar by Nile Rodgers
Published by Josings songs, ASCAP/PRS
Sweet Catastrophe
Written and Performed by Will Crewdson
Published by Will Crewdson Music
ADDITIONAL MUSIC
Audio Network Ltd.
APPEARING
Edward Asner
Ed Begley, Jr.
Eric Braeden
Rachelle Carson
Glenn Chaika
Dame Joan Collins
Colette The Dog
John Paul DeJoria
Jeff Fahey
Josie James
Laurie Jay
Jerry (as Meryl Streep)
Peter Jones
George Lazenby
Jon Lovitz
William J. MacDonald
Marlon Martinez
Nigel Martinez
Gerard McMahon
Mojo (the big noisy dog)
Ambra Moore
Geoffrey Moore
Sir Roger Moore
Stephen Morris
Nik Panic (voice and reflected in GM’s glasses)
Chris Papastephanou
Stefanie Powers
Naya Rivera
Charles Sherman
Joseph Soleiman
Veronica Toub
APPEARING IN THE MUSIC VIDEO
J.J. Abrams
Alessandra Ambrosio
Naveen Andrews
Sanjeev Bhaskar
Leslie Bricusse
Billy Burke
Darius Caland
Natalie Dormer
Ryan Destiny
Rupert Everett
Stephen Fry
Frank Gardner
Lisa Haydon
Taylor Hill
Paris Hilton
Elsa Hosk
Danny Huston
Josie James
Liza Koshy
Kristanna Loken
Joanna Lumley
Nigel Martinez
Ambra Moore
Geoffrey Moore
Mia Moore
Sir Roger Moore
Piers Morgan
Lottie Moss
Liam Neeson
Melissa Odabash
Kira Panic
Tamalah Panic
Jake Paul
Will Poulter
Paije Richardson
Chelsea Stone
Romee Strijd
Jessica Stroup
Jasmine Tookes
Lisa Vanderpump
David Walliams
Annabelle Wallis
Elodie Yung
APPEARING IN THE HOME MOVIES
Maud Adams
Sir David Attenborough
Sir Richard Attenborough
Leslie Bricusse
Dame Joan Collins
Giancarlo Giammetti
Valentino Gravami
Sir Elton John
Matt Lattanzi
Christian Moore
Deborah Moore
Geoffrey Moore
Luisa Moore
Sir Roger Moore
Olivia Newton-John
Stefanie Powers
John Reid
Yvonne Romain
WITH THANKS TO
Belwoods Bakery
Mouna BK
Candida Bottaci
Pierre Caland
Adil Chamakh
Armand Claproth
Alexander Cooke
Jo Crocker
Todd Diener
Jordan Dorso
Kate Driver
Jozef Drsman
Ramona Ekpe
Denee De Emmony
Jennifer Fahey
Raphel Faux
Connie Filippello
Jill Fritzo
Harold Gallo
Olivia Garnham
Nancy Gates
Tricia Geiger
Jemma Georgiou
Anne Germaine
Anna Graham
Karin Gumbinner
Dan Gutt
Ruth Anne Huvane
Dawn Irons
Emma Jackson
John Paul Mitchell Systems
Tess Larosse
Laura (PA to Connie Filippello)
Andrew Lee
Pauline Llorca
Philip Lobel
Luxe Hotel
Paula Karaiskos
Jenny Kern Meridith
Ellen Meyer
Marcy Morris
Obicà
Palace Hotel Gstaad
Vince De Palma
Kristen Pierre
Marlon Ray at Revival, Complex Studios LA
Record Surplus Los Angeles
Nilde Rivosecchi
Charlie Roina
Alice Rowlinson
Alex Schack
Steven Sadi
Alex Shekarchian
Sarah Shyn
Nick Sinclair
Jessica Steindorff
Steven C from Claudio D’Italia
David Stevenson
Josh Tate
Esther Torres
Deborah Toskovic Kavanagh
Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills
Sally Watson
Leah Weerasinghe
Viviana White
Vicky Yang
Charlotte Yap
SPECIAL THANKS
Natalie Dormer
Hush Mayfair London
Loulou Moore
Nobu Hotel Ibiza Bay
Veronica Toub
Victoria’s Secret
VERY SPECIAL THANKS
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
GEOFFREY WOULD LIKE TO THANK
Caffe Luxxe, which supplied almost all of the coffee in this picture
Christian Moore (Brothers Moore)
And Nik Panic (We will always have faith in you)
Laurie Jay, we miss you, rest in peace my friend.
AMBRA WOULD LIKE TO THANK
Deborah Moore
Gareth Owen
Darius Caland
The one and only Veronica Toub
AND THANK ETERNALLY Nik Panic
NIK WOULD LIKE TO SAY
Hello to Jason Isaacs, LTL TTE
AND THANK
Virginia Morrow
Christine St. John
Karen Brown
Neil Gardner
Nikola Živojinović
Les Healey
And all wonderful filmmakers for making inspirational movies
Special thanks to Geoffrey and Ambra for having faith in me
And Nick Price for being a great movie editor
Made between March and October 2017
Any resemblance between the characters in this photoplay and any persons, living or dead, is plain stupid. “We are all individuals! We are all different!” (Brian)
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