New Rules for the Next Oscar Race!
Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 10:27PM by Nathaniel R
Is the Academy being proactive or panicky? That's up for debate but they've made a big announcement. Though the Oscar ceremony is almost exactly 10 month away (February 28th, 2021) -- practically a full year -- AMPAS is planning for the worst with the coronavirus pandemic and adjusting accordingly. The biggest news might well be a 'letting the genie out of the bottle' rule change. They will now allow streaming films without theatrical releases to compete for Oscars.
From their own mouths:
“The Academy firmly believes there is no greater way to experience the magic of movies than to see them in a theater. Our commitment to that is unchanged and unwavering. Nonetheless, the historically tragic COVID-19 pandemic necessitates this temporary exception to our awards eligibility rules. The Academy supports our members and colleagues during this time of uncertainty. We recognize the importance of their work being seen and also celebrated, especially now, when audiences appreciate movies more than ever.”
We've assumed this was going to happen eventually though the notion frightens us for what it portends, not for its arguable necessity at the moment. This change makes a lot of sense in this extremely unprecedented situation BUT, and here's the nuanced bit of our feelings that's hard to sell in easy sound bites....
Their lax rules for eligibility previously, which only required a distributor four-walling a single theater in Los Angeles for a week-long engagement, have never really shown that that 'commitment is unwavering.' The rules SHOULD be relaxed this year, yes, but they never should have been so chill before! It's an anti audience move to allow for eligibility through basically privately funded four-walling which doesn't even require anyone buying tickets to see a movie... or even knowing that it has been released. Netflix has been able to get around the spirit of the rules because they have deep deep pockets and could afford their 'letter of the law' make-nice games (like that ritzy theatrical run they did for The Irishman last season). But don't expect Netflix and other streamers to invest in that sort of special engagement anymore now that they aren't required to.
In the future this change will likely make the difference between the Emmys and the Oscars far far too blurry for our tastes (does the brand new Bad Education on HBO now qualify for both the Emmys and the Oscars?) but it is what it is for the short term.
But the rule change isn't quite as drastic as it sounds.
Once movie theaters reopen, the old rules will take effect again. In the interim, movies originally scheduled to come to movie theaters that are now premiering only can skip that particular requirement altogether. This will free up the specialty distributors to make more flexible decisions with their Oscar hopeful slates. They could actually go streaming rather than wait for the fall film festivals (which may or may not be happening) now that they know this option exists.
And here's another interesting change that we're still thinking about. Once theaters do reopen you won't necessarily have to play in Los Angeles to become eligible. They are expanding "qualifying theaters" to include additional cities: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta. We love this move in a way but we wish it were not an alternate path but a "you have to open in all of these cities!" because we've long thought the rules were silly and basically shut out the audience part of moviegoing, cateringly only to Academy members who live in LA. If you made the rule "you have to play in the top 8 markets" than the movies being honored would feel more like they were part of the film year that you're supposedly honoring.
FOUR MORE CHANGES
1. It's long been rumored but Sound Mixing and Sound Editing will now be combined into a single category.
2. Eligibility for Original Scores just got tougher. Your movie now needs 60% original music to compete. If you're part of a franchise your percentage is even more strict. For sequels you have to have up to 80% original music to qualify. It's too bad they didn't have this rule in place for the past several years when they'd nominated John Williams for just writing a couple of new themes in his various franchises and mostly leaning into what he'd already composed years ago. However, we're not all that excited about this rule change because the music branch has never been exactly trustworthy in which rules they enforce and which they don't. Their history is filled with baffling decisions and examples of being strangely punitive to certain films and composers while others get a free pass.
3. No DVD mailers this season. They're going completely streaming for their FYC efforts.
4. All members will now be invited to participate in the International Feature Film voting's first round (that's the round that determines 7 of the finalists while the executive committe picks the other 3). This is a good change, since the goal posts haven't diminished. Members who want to vote still have to prove they've seen a certain number of the contenders (that number varies from year to year depending on how large the list is). In short (too late!), they're still preferencing Academy Members who actually watch the movies. Frankly ALL categories should have this rule.
What do you think of these rule shifts?
Reader Comments (40)
There really should be a rule that a film has to play... let's say four cities, New York, LA and any two other cities with a population of 200,000 or something (distributors can be creative here, throw a bone once in a while to a real film loving town, like Rochester, NY or Austin, TX).
I would have preferred that a category being taken away came with a category added, like casting or stunts or ensemble. It’s interesting to see new rules for music when a good number of sequels made the finalist list this year. Overall, these changes aren’t bad, and I’d hope it actually means more digital releases will be scheduled very soon, like Promising Young Woman that was supposed to open a week and a half ago.
From what I understand only movies that had planned on having a theatrical release but were shuttered to streaming due to COVID-19 remain eligible for the Oscars. Movies that had never planned on having a theatrical release (like Bad Education) are not.
And it's about time they combine the sound categories; they should combine the screenplay categories next.
Could I say something that I hope no one cry like me?
The change of the original score category come four years since Johann Johansson's Arrival was inelegible because he used In the nature of daylight.
Johann passed away and we can't awarded him anymore. 😣😭
How about a rule that a film must be available in America’s 20 most populous cities by the end of the calendar year, achievable through either theatrical release in all 20 or if theatrical in fewer, streaming or home video by the end of the year. So many nominees get caught between small theatrical releases and streaming fo the nomination period and come back as even smaller theatrical releases.
Loved the changes! The sound change coming from the sound branch is music to our ears because makes total sense!
I hope the academy add two more categories in the next five years:
Best casting director
Best Stunt coordinator
And, with the veganism becoming more present in our days, including the Animals Rights, in five to ten years, we could consider that the Academy will add the category of Animals Trainer to the Oscar.
Animals Trainer could be a categoey where Blockbusters and comercial films could be benefit. Until Robert Eggers's movies dominate the categories wins (Black Phillip! Seagles!!).
And, I think the Production Managers should be awarded along with the Production Designers (Art directors and set decorators).
"Bad Education" IS NOT elegible because the document of the Academy made it clear that the film going to VOD or Streaming must have had a teathrical release planned, and it need to be proven in document sent to the Academy. "Bad Education" was never scheduled to have a teathrical release, since it has been bought by HBO since Toronto last year and the cable TV has been announcing the film since January.
The key is the “planned theatrical release” component of the press release — kind of ignored in the piece above — which is exactly what they should have done to make this year move forward smoothly. Excellent move by AMPAS.
As for the Pandora’s Box situation, well, that has been cracked open for 4 years already, so this doesn’t change much. The modifications will happen, or they won’t. We just have to wait and see.
Miami and Atlanta seem like strange choices for this new rule, right? I wish they’d expand the rule to even more cities if we’re including those two.
The Academy doesn't need new categories for its main telecast. Do what the Emmys do and split it up with the Science and Tech ceremony.
They should bring back the " Adaptation score" category.
Sigh. How long before the Oscars are overrun with streaming films and theatrical films go the way of network tv series are now at the Emmys? Extinct
Atlanta makes perfect sense for the rule change to me. For all intents and purposes, it is an industry town at this point. You simply can't discount the sheer number of productions that happen here in general, or deny its cultural significance as "Black Hollywood" (quality of his movies aside, thank you Tyler Perry). Also including Toronto and Vancouver may have covered all bases, but at least the Academy is taking some steps at recognizing how far things have moved beyond just L.A. and NYC. Also, I live in Atlanta, so bring me all the early releases and qualifying runs!
It'll be interesting to know which films are eligible under the relaxed criteria - presumably Trolls & True History of the Kelly Gang at this point - with most movies are being postponed rather than switched to digital and with Atlanta being rightly or wrongly open for business I think this change will have minimal effect on the full eligibility list.
Why do cities of X+ population get such preferential treatment? If a movie can qualify by opening in San Francisco, it should qualify for opening in Cheyenne, too.
Judd Apatow/Pete Davidson’s King of Staten Island also going right to streaming (not that it’ll be a contender for anything.. maybe screenplay).
Love the combo sound categories.
Chill they’ll be back to normal in time. They’ll just remove any voices they don’t agree with. Does that sound familiar?
I had to search because you forgot to link to the statement, an old mans mistake I understand that ha, but from reading the statement when theatres reopen enough the qualifying requirement is back to normal in the major cities named above.
Per a source: “Now films that had a previously planned theatrical release but are made available through on-demand service may qualify for best picture and other categories.”
I think proving the previously planned theatrical release will knock out most sneaking in if it’s wielded in the vague way the Academy rules it’s system. Since that wasn’t of interest to you, maybe Cláudio or one of the young bucks would like to ponder the implications of that.
Tiny correction, no DVD mailers from NEXT season: "As part of the Academy’s sustainability effort, the 93rd Awards season will be the final year DVD screeners will be allowed to be distributed; these mailings will be discontinued starting in 2021 for the 94th Academy Awards. Access to the Academy Screening Room will continue to be made available for all eligible releases. The distribution of physical music CDs, screenplays and hardcopy mailings, including but not limited to paper invites and screening schedules, will also be discontinued next year. Digital links to materials will be permitted."
but why don't they move the telecast date? Late March is preferable to a Xmas jam.
I think they included cities other than LA because the reopening of cinemas will be staggered around the country and California and New York could be among the last states to reopen them.
They must know something we don't if they're letting streaming-only movies be eligible. I'm guessing movie theaters won't be back for a long, long while.
Dela --our contributors are free to write about what they'd like. I don't "assign" pieces except for special events and even then they get their choice within the parameters. So If you don't see them writing about something it's because they don't want to. And I made it through a whole paragraph without insulting you. See how easy it is? Try it next time.
Steve / George -- exactly that. This was a smart move because we a) dont know when movie theaters are coming back and b) a lot of the smaller distributors were between a rock and a hard place. They rely on festivals to generate buzz and a complex platform system that suddenly doesn't exist. This move basically just made it possible for Neon and A24 to still compete. Of course it also made it easier for Netflix which has billions of dollars but the field will never be truly level so it's a smart move.
JJ -- you're right about the pandora's box thing. As far as the "planned theatrical release"... I ignored that part only because the article was already long and I feel like this element is going to keep coming up and we'll have to discuss it every time there's an eligibility issue / controversy.
Jan -- given that they're now even replacing DOGS (who love to perform) with cgi I think animals onscreen is going the way of the dinosaur.
/3rtful -- that would be the worst move ever. Notice how NO ONE cares about the Emmys beyond the acting categories and best series. That's because they're not televised (and also because they have 157 categories.) The Academy is wise to keep their prizes limited and all televised. Except for their stupidity around Honorary Oscars but what can you do?
I'm hoping that the travesty of 'The Call of the Wild' and it's CG animal doesn't become the new normal in Hollywood. I get it for rare or wild animals and for difficult stunts but imagining I've seen the last classic dog performances on screen is really depressing.
so can Alison Brie get nominated for Horse Girl or not?
Nathaniel, do you think this could open the door for voters to discover movies via screener like they did in the old days, opening the door for surprise noms and wins like Marcia Gay Harden? Or will the internet and precursors still find a way to decide the race by September? LOL
George -- the LATTER of course... but maybe not this year. Remember in 2009 when they made the rule change to expand best picture the powers that be hadn't figured it out yet (how to keep the status quo) so we ended up with a bizarre (but better for it) slate of films as nominees. I mean, DISTRICT 9? (worthy but that never would have happened even in the very next year)
@ doppelgänger adri: I think it’s okay to express your regret under your own handle. It would be nice to see all your posts under one name of your own. It’s always fun to have another distinct voice join in.
Movies have weathered a lot of changes: from silents to talkies; from 2 categories of one colour and one black and white; to small screens in multiplexes and IMAX; to no more preshow cartoon, travelogue, and newsreel; to no continuous showing where you just walk in at any point in the movie.
Habits were already changing. Our lock downs are solidifying our new habits and extending them to the parts of the population who hadn’t used them much before.
What differs a movie and a TV movie if they both stream on Netflix or Hulu? Are they gonna be eligible for both Oscar and Emmy? WTF
There should be a rule - and it is long overdue in the documentary category - that a film cannot be eligible for both Oscars and Emmys. The makers have to declare which award they are competing for and be ruled ineligible for the other.
“planned theatrical release”
What exactly is a planned theatrical release? Just announcing "Well we planned to put this movie in theatres"?
MDA: I am REALLY against fusing the screenplay categories together. Adaptation writing and original writing ARE, fundamentally, different disciplines. Also: If they're fused together, I bet you, 8 or 9 years out of 10, the Oscar category would be IDENTICAL to what the adapted screenplay category would have been. The only screenplay change I'd be on board with? Instituting Special Awards for Improv, for movies where half or more of the dialogue is arrived at through an improv process. (This applies to the Mike Leigh process AND things like Borat, for the record.)
This makes sense for the both the Oscars and the studios. I'm sure the theater owners are not too happy
Volvagia -- i wholeheartedly agree with that (it would always be the adapted titles even though the originals nominated tend to be of higher quality)... except for the part about improv. No!
Ready - right? That's why i think we'll have plenty of opportunity to talk about that oing forward. there are going to be rulings and some of them will be controversial.
Nat: Scared of a world where Mike Leigh has 5-7 (admittedly non-competitive) statues? And, to replace the 6 nominations I mentioned that that would be replaced, where Scream (96), Dogma (99), Collateral (04), Casino Royale (06), The Wrestler (08) and Blue Valentine (10) are Original Screenplay nominees?
Volvagia -- there simply aren't enough films that use that technique (otherwise Mike Leigh wouldn't be so famous for it) to make it a competitive category but by all means give Mike Leigh an honorary Oscar for his unique gifts to cinema as a writer/writing-facilitator and auteur.
Volvagia: Casino Royale would be an adapted screenplay. It's based on the novel by Ian Fleming.
Edward L: I mentioned Borat? Which did get nominated in Adapted?
Hi Volvagia: Sure - I was referring to your subsequent comment replacing Mike Leigh's Oscar nominations with nominations for other films, where you mentioned Casino Royale for 06. I was just wondering if you were thinking of it as an original because so many of the other recent Bond films have essentially been original stories?
Regarding "planned" releases, they apparently will need to prove with paperwork that they had a release booked and ready (so, something like BACARAU or the new Eliza Hittman that I can't remember the name or TROLLS WORLD TOUR, etc). So, no BAD EDUCATION as it never had a theatrical release planned.
As for Emmys vs Oscars, the fiction/drama titles always had a distinction. Netflix, for instance, had their titles that they submitted for Oscars and their titles that they submitted for Emmys. It's why MUDBOUND or THE IRISHMAN or MARRIAGE STORY won't show up for Emmys while other ones could (although "movies made for tv" seems so secondary at the Oscars behind drama/comedy/miniseries categories and I feel like Amazon mustn't submit a lot like ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE or TO ALL THE BOYS I LOVED BEFORE like stuff. Documentaries however... :/