Pictured: Leslie Unger resigned her post as Director of Communications. Photo courtesy of AMPAS.
Leslie Unger, communications director for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has resigned from her post – a position she has held since 2007.
Unger has been in the communications department for nearly 20 years, but moved up into her current position after longtime director Jon Pavlik retired.
Word is the Academy’s new CEO Dawn Hudson emailed the staff letting them know first – and it wasn’t long before the news went public and was confirmed.
The Academy released this statement:
“Leslie has been with the Academy for 19 years, a wonderfully dedicated executive who has made many positive and lasting contributions to the organization. We are all grateful for her leadership over these many years. We wish her the very best as she takes some well-deserved time off before moving on to the next chapter of her career.”
Dawn Hudson, CEO, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Certainly, Unger has been dousing fires over the last couple of weeks. Oscar Producer Brett Ratner resigned after making a homophobic comment. His host and colleague Eddie Murphy jumped ship a day later in sympathy.
A mere day after that Brian Grazer was named as the new producer of the show and on the heels of that news Billy Crystal was chosen to host the Awards.
All that info was filtered out in a timely manner, just as it always was with Unger at the helm of the publicity department.
Some reports suggest that this is another way that the Academy is restructuring. Hudson was hired as CEO this past June and shortly after her arrival AMPAS hired Christina Kounelias in a newly-created position of chief marketing officer. That meant Unger was now reporting to Kounelias.
I have been covering the Oscars for as many years as Unger has been with the Academy and found her to be no nonsense, tough as nails, but fair. Truth is, she had to be.
She expected professionalism from all of us covering the event and we understood how important it was for us to follow the rules.
The result was an Oscar night that went off without a hitch – at least where the press is concerned.
I will miss her Oscar walk-throughs to be sure. Following Unger with megaphone in hand guiding each group from position to position is a memory I won’t forget anytime soon.
Posted by Mari Cartel