Bill Jasper, Oscar voter (Photo by Robbi Pengelli)

“I get close to a hundred ‘screeners’ every year, and I religiously go through them all, watching every single film,” says Bill Jasper of Sonoma.

As a retired CEO of Dolby Laboratories, Jasper has been an active voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1999. This year’s ceremony – which will be televised Sunday night, Feb. 28 – marks the 17th consecutive year that Jasper has voted in the Oscars. Over the last two decades, he’s seen literally thousands of films, many in actual movie theaters.

Most of the films he sees are on “screeners” – that’s movie-speak for specially produced DVD or Blu Ray releases of films, sent out by the studios to voting members of the Academy. The idea is that, if the voter somehow never got around to seeing the film in a theater, they’ll be willing to plug it in and give it a chance, and maybe a nomination, from their own living room.

“It’s grueling,” admits Jasper, describing the process of watching dozens of films over the course of several weeks prior to the Oscar nominations. “But it’s part of the responsibility a member agrees to. I’m sure everyone who votes is conscientious, and tries to see all the films they can, and judge them fairly.”

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