Last year, PwC announced that Martha L. Ruiz was to join Brian Cullinan as the new Oscars balloting co-leader overseeing the Oscars balloting process. This made Ruiz the first Latino woman in that position joining a very small group of PwC partners who have safeguarded the world's most famous and best-kept secrets for over eighty years. Each year, Ruiz and Cullinan are the only two people in the world who know the identities of the Oscar® winners before they are revealed at the live ceremony.
“PwC’s role in the Oscars balloting process represents the firm’s lasting legacy of utmost accuracy and confidentiality,” said Ruiz, tax partner in PwC’s entertainment, media and communications practice. “It’s an honor to join this esteemed group of PwC balloting leaders to uphold our long-standing relationship with the Academy.”
Latin Times: What does a day (or a week) in the life of Martha entail as the Oscars approach?
Martha Ruiz: Well, it’s a pretty crazy week. Polls close on Tuesday at 5pm and me and my partner Brian Cullinan will count the ballots until probably the end of day Friday. Once we get to that point, there’s a few other things we need to do like start memorizing the winners in each category, mainly so we have a good backup control. We definitely don’t want to write that down and have that piece of paper slip on the day of the show, so we keep it all in our heads. Next we get a full set of cards to go in the envelopes that get delivered to the presenters on Sunday, but the way we do it is we print out the names of every single nominee (so the printers don’t know the winners) and then we get together to put the actual winner in the envelope and seal it. Brian and I each take a set of envelopes with the winners to the show.
LT: So, basically who else is in on the secret?
MR: Brian and I have a small team to help us out with the counts, but we’ll have them count a small percentage where they’ll never have too big of a percentage of the ballots they’re counting. Plus, Brian and I will do a recount of all the ballots later on, just to ensure everything’s right. So there’s a lot of repetition in the effort, but that way him and I will be the only ones that know the results for Sunday.
LT: What’s your secret to keeping the secrets? Do you lock yourself up in a room until the show?
MR: Well, no. [Laughs] The secret is to try and not talk about it. People constantly tell me it’s such an exciting role to have taken on for the many things you end up knowing, and of course it is exciting; it’s a very prestigious engagement for the firm and I’m honored to be a part of it, but there is definitely a lot we cannot say.
LT: Do you watch all the movies every year and have favorites, or do you try to stay away for neutrality?
MR: Yeah! I’m a big movie fan. Every year I try to watch as many as I can, but most times I wont have time to watch all the movies.
LT: What does it mean for you to be the first Latina in that position of trust?
MR: It’s certainly a privilege to take on this role. In the 82 years that the firm has been doing this, only a very small group of partners have been in this position; I am only the 14th partner to take on this role; the second woman and the first Latina, so it’s great that the firm has that advantage point in giving the opportunity to women too. As a Latina, I'm honored to take on that role and be the first one. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime; being part of something that's part of a tradition in Hollywood is certainly leaving a mark.
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