As the world continues to adapt to the ever-evolving COVID-19 Pandemic, it was only a matter of time until the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made a ruling for their upcoming 93rd Academy Awards, which is currently scheduled for February 27th, 2021. Coming in the form of a press release on April 28th, the Academy not only finally announced changes to the eligibility requirements for their upcoming awards ceremony, but also announced various changes that could change the Oscars for years to come.
The biggest headline was of course, the announcement that for this year only any film which was planning to have a theatrical release, but instead released on a commercial streaming or VOD platform would be eligible for general entry. And special categories for the upcoming Academy Awards as long as within 60 days of the films release it is made available on the digital Academy Screening Room. This opens the door for films such as Trolls World Tour and the upcoming Artemis Fowl. Which are debuting on VOD without an Academy Award qualifying theatrical run to still compete in the Awards Season. This is due to an overloaded fourth quarter of both typical award season releases, and major blockbusters moving from earlier in the year could be one of the most competitive award seasons in recent memory.
The only grey area within this change is the qualification that the film must have been planning to have a theatrical run. It isn’t mentioned in the release how the Academy will judge a films plan for a theatrical run, which could be the deciding factor on if films such as HBO’s Bad Education end up being qualified for the awards.
The Academy might have made this ruling in response to the current shutdown of theaters due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but they are also looking ahead. The ability to bypass a theatrical run will only be available until theaters reopen to the level where the Academy deems it viable for films to reach the theatrical run qualification. For when that time hopefully comes, the Academy is opening the door to theatrical runs not just in Los Angeles but in multiple United States cities including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta. This will make it easier for films to get a theatrical run in a crowded marketplace. For films looking for qualification through a film festival, the Academy has also acknowledged that they will be very lenient counting films if they are shown online through the festival even if behind a paywall.
The other major bullet point from the news released was the consolidation of the Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing awards to be retitled Best Sound for the foreseeable future. The Academy has historically proven to struggle with telling the difference between these categories leading to confusing nominations such as when Bohemian Rhapsody not only got nominated, but even won for Best Sound Editing at the 91st Academy Awards. Which makes little sense when you look at what that award actually represented.
Some online have voiced their displeasure for this rule change feeling like it validated the Academy being lazy in not recognizing the differences in these awards. The bigger shame comes from the number of films which will lose a chance for a lone sound nomination, which has been seen time and time again.
If it wasn’t for the split sound categories, in recent years films such as Ad Astra, Drive, and A Quiet Place very easily could have gone without a single nomination in their respected years. Where a single sound nomination might not seem like huge praise, it still was at least some sign of recognition for the talent within these films.
Where these were the two major talking pieces from the press release, there were multiple other announcements that deserve mention. The Best Original Score category has been riddled with controversy and confusion in the past as the official rules were vague regarding how much of a score could be made from previously existing music. With some films being disqualified for even using a single song which wasn’t original.
Finally, the Academy has cleared the ruling up stating that non-franchise and non-sequel films are required to have at least 60% of the score be original music. While franchise films and sequels would have to have at least 80% of their scores be new and original to qualify for the category. This should make the Best Original Score race much clearer and less ambiguous to what films will and won’t qualify in the category.
The Best International Film category also saw change, as the preliminary round of voting will now be open to all members of the Academy. Where there will be a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote, this is disappointing turning the category into more of a popularity contest than ever following suit of the Best Animated Feature category, which changed its ruling back in 2017. One has to think that the number of inspired choices to make it onto the shortlist will be greatly reduced and normally simple fall onto whatever got the most festival buzz more than ever.
Finally, it is an end of an era for the awards season as in part of their push for sustainability, the Academy has banned the use of physical screeners and promotional materials starting next year leading up to the 94th Academy Awards. Where the actual impact of this change remains to be seen, it can be assumed that not having physical screeners will greatly impact the viewing habits of some Academy members and could see changes in what films gain buzz over others.
Despite the Cannes Film Festival and the start of the 2020-2021 Awards Season being delayed, this press release detailed multiple changes and rulings that will continue to make the upcoming Awards Season one of the most bizarre and unpredictable in history.
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