Friday, April 19, 2024

Oscars: Motion Picture Academy Breaks with DGA, Will Allow Streaming Films to Be Eligible for One More Year

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The Oscars have broken ranks with the Director Guild over awards eligibility.

The Motion Picture Academy says they will allow streaming movies to be eligible for Oscars for one more season. The DGA said last week they would not allow that, and only movies that play in theaters would qualify for their awards.

The Academy is sticking with requirements they outlined last year.

The Academy’s Board of Governors has approved rules and campaign regulations for the 94th Academy Awards®.

As previously announced, the eligibility period for Academy Awards consideration will return to the standard December 31 deadline: a feature film must have a qualifying release date between March 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021.  With theatrical exhibition still impacted by the pandemic this year, eligibility requirements for the 94th Academy Awards will be consistent with the addendums made for the 93rd Awards season and can be found here.  For films that open in theaters, the six qualifying U.S. metropolitan areas are Los Angeles County; the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia, and apply to General Entry categories as well as the Documentary and Short Film categories.  Following this year, the Academy intends to expand the qualifying requirements for the 95th Awards.

Additionally, beginning with the 94th Academy Awards, the Best Picture category will be set at 10 nominees, rather than a fluctuating number of nominations from year to year.  This was previously announced in June 2020.

In the International Feature Film category, key rule amendments made in the preliminary round of voting for the 93rd Awards and approved in January 2021 remain unchanged.  This includes an expanded shortlist of 15 films and members from all Academy branches being invited to opt in and participate in the preliminary and nominations rounds of voting.  Members must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.

The Board of Governors approved other rules changes for the 94th Awards including:

  • In the Sound category, there will now be a preliminary round of voting for the Sound award to determine a shortlist of 10 films.  Prior to nominations voting, Sound Branch members will be invited to a presentation of the shortlisted achievements, similar to the process in the Visual Effects and Makeup & Hairstyling categories.  The entire Sound Branch will vote to select the shortlist as well as nominations.
  • In the Music (Original Score) category, for a score to be eligible, it must comprise a minimum of 35% of the total music in the film, lowered from 60%.
  • In the Music (Original Song) category, no more than five songs from any one film may be submitted.
  • In the Documentary Short Subject, Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories, the shortlist will expand from 10 to 15 films.

Submission deadlines are as follows:

Documentary Short Subject – Friday, October 15, 2021
Animated Short Film – Friday, October 15, 2021
Live Action Short Film – Friday, October 15, 2021
Animated Feature Film – Monday, November 1, 2021
Documentary Feature – Monday, November 1, 2021
International Feature Film – Monday, November 1, 2021
Original Score – Monday, November 1, 2021
Original Song – Monday, November 1, 2021
General Entry categories – Monday, November 15, 2021

Campaign regulations, which specify how companies and individuals may market to Academy members any movies and achievements eligible for the 94th Academy Awards, were also updated.  As a reminder, the mailings of DVDs, CDs and physical screenplays are discontinued starting this year.  Access to the Academy Screening Room will continue to be made available for all eligible releases.  Digital links to materials will be permitted.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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