Oscars 2017: Aussie producer ‘devastated’ by second blunder

Leading Australian film producer Jan Chapman says she is “devastated” by another mistake in the Oscars telecast.

Jan Chapman (L) with Janet Patterson.

Leading Australian film producer, Jan Chapman says she is “devastated” by another mistake in the Oscars telecast.

In addition to the now notorious best picture gaffe, during the In Memoriam segment, the telecast mistakenly showed a photo of Chapman rather than Janet Patterson, an Australian costume designer and four-time Oscar nominee (The Piano, Portrait of a Lady, Oscar and Lucinda and Bright Star) who passed away in October 2015.

In another #Oscars stuff-up, the 'In Memoriam' segment confused Janet Patterson for living Jan Chapman: https://t.co/5geXz1ZzK0 pic.twitter.com/HW149s8yiv

— SBSMovies (@SBSMovies) February 27, 2017

“I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long- time collaborator Janet Patterson. I had urged her agency to check any photograph which might be used and understand that they were told that the Academy had it covered,” Chapman told Variety newspaper.

“Janet was a great beauty and four-time Oscar nominee and it is very disappointing that the error was not picked up. I am alive and well and an active producer.”

Jan Chapman (L) with Janet Patterson

Chapman is one of Australia’s best-known producers with credits including Lantana, Holy Smoke, and The Last Days of Chez Nous. She was married to director Philip Noyce in the 1970s.

To confuse matters further, Patterson and Chapman worked together on The Piano. The Academy has yet to comment on the mistake.

This year’s In Memoriam segment was not without other controversy. Several notable celebrities who passed in 2016, including Garry Shandling and Florence Henderson, were not included in the tribute, although they were better known for their television careers.