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?