The Independent Spirit Awards aren’t so independent, of anything.
The Film Independent awards group has moved its 2021 ceremony to April 24th, the day before the Oscars. The Spirit Awards can’t exist without the Oscars, so what were they going to do? Have their show in February?
The Spirit Awards are an odd animal. They’re supposed to celebrate independent cinema, but they mostly march in lockstep with the Academy Awards. Almost no one watches the telecast on the IFC channel. The last two years averaged around 100,000 viewers.
Well, now that we’ve gotten over that hump, who’s next? SAG Awards, DGA, WGA, PGA, all of them will move to April. And the Golden Globes will have to take March 20th.
PS Do you know which movie won the Independent Spirit Award this past winter? Answer: it was “The Farewell,” a little gem you cannot not love.
