When I heard that accomplished, slightly quirky and very British events director Hamish Hamilton had been tapped to direct next March’s Academy Awards ceremony, my first thought was that first-time producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic had made yet another spot-on decision.

Apparently, however, not everyone in Hollywood agrees.

Hamilton, who will also mastermind February’s Super Bowl half-time extravaganza, is an experienced and imaginative concert man, having directed slick shows and specials for the likes of U2, Christina Aguilera, Jay-Z and Neil Diamond.

More relevant to the Oscars however, he’s had immense success helming various editions of the MTV Video Music Awards and some particularly enjoyable Brit Award (the British Grammy) ceremonies.

Some traditionalists will balk at the MTV connection, but they needn’t do — the Oscars aren’t suddenly going to be hosted by Katy Perry and Russell Brand, after all. As Hamilton’s diverse résumé shows, he can adapt to very different audience expectations. Viewed on their own terms, meanwhile, the VMAs and the Brits are witty, well-paced entertainments. If Hamilton can bring the same zeal and zip to the Oscars, no one should have anything to complain about.

That’s my take, anyway. But Steve Pond reports the some figures in the industry are disgruntled with the decision, with a particularly ugly streak of xenophobia emerging in their discontent:

“There’s a lot of animosity right now,” said one veteran crew member who expects to work on this Oscar show as well. “It’s an American TV show. Why are we outsourcing it to the Brits?”

One reason for anger among staffers is that American variety-show workers find it very difficult to obtain visas to work in the U.K. “We’ll give all of his people visas, but it’s not reciprocal,” says a disgruntled awards-show vet. “They’re going down a really terrible path, and a lot of people are angry.”

I call bullshit on this. The producers’ primary concern should be finding the best man for the job, nationality be damned, and Hamilton’s CV speaks for itself. Do these same people think that last year’s decision to hire an Australian host was also a venture “down a really terrible path?”

Meanwhile, to address a particularly galling fallacy in the quote above, the Academy may be an American institution, but that doesn’t make the Oscars an American show. Might I remind these folks that the Oscars are broadcast in over 150 countries, to a global TV audience of a billion people? I assure you they don’t care who the director of the show is, much less where he was born.

If the Oscars were truly “an American show,” the competition would be restricted to U.S. films and individuals, and wouldn’t be broadcast beyond their borders. But for all its inevitable (and sometimes regrettable) American bias, the show claims to honor the best in global cinematic talent — hence this year’s triumph of a British film about India, and last year’s all-European sweep in the acting categories.

The world is growing smaller. Deal with it.

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