LA Times’ sub section The Envelope recently spoke to Jeff Robinov, the WB film group President and Sue Kroll the worldwide marketing President about Harry Potter’s chances at an Academy Award and their choice to campaign for the film. The film execs had this to say:

Winning an Oscar isn’t going to sell another ticket or DVD for Harry Potter. So why are you putting so much into this campaign? JR: The films have been of a really high standard, and a lot of the academy attention has been on the technical side, which overlooks their quality. We believe if you look at what [director] David [Yates] has done with this last film, if you look at the critical reception and pure execution, and if you look at the scale and depth and entertainment value, it’s worthy of academy recognition. It feels to me like if you look at what has been released this year, “Harry Potter” is deserving of consideration as one of the best films and directorial efforts.

Are you really campaigning for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” or did you save your big academy push for this year in hopes of rewarding the series as a whole? SK: The strategy is not to reward the history of the franchise but to recognize this very singular achievement on behalf of David Yates and all the people in the movie. We didn’t decide to do it until after the film was released. It got a 97% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A+ CinemaScore from moviegoers. We devised this campaign very much on the basis of this specific film because we think it is worthy.

You have a large ensemble cast. How does that influence your campaign for actors? SK: It’s very tough with an ensemble like this, but there are a few performances people are talking about. Daniel [Radcliffe], of course, and Ralph Fiennes. Also Alan Rickman. His performance was so well received. You’ll see us campaigning broadly with the cast, but I think certain performances will emerge more so than others.

Do you feel like you understand how the best picture nomination process will work this year and how it affects your chances? JR: It’s always a surprise from my point of view which films the academy chooses to recognize. Some are shoo-ins, I suppose, but there are a fair amount of surprises every year, and this year that will probably be more true than ever since we don’t even know how many nominees there will be.