94th Oscars to Omit Some Categories from Live Telecast
BY SCOTTIE KNOLLIN
The Academy announced today that several major awards will not presented live on the air during next month’s 94th Academy Awards. The move is an effort to present a more streamlined and television-friendly broadcast.
A total of 23 categories are recognized during the annual celebration of cinema. Now, 8 of those categories will be announced and rewarded during an early, not-televised hour of the ceremony ahead of the three-hour televised event. Clips from the off-air portion of the ceremony will be edited into the live broadcast.
The 8 categories to be celebrated off-air include: Documentary Short, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Production Design, Animated Short, Live Action Short, and Sound.
To ease concerns about the categories being moved off-air, the Academy shared that clips of acceptance speeches from the 8 categories will be folded into the live televised broadcast, similar to how the Tony Awards do with many of its technical achievements.
The Oscars are aired on ABC each year. Last year’s ceremony, when “Nomadland” was named Best Picture, was the lowest-rated ceremony in the history of the awards. Only 9.23 million viewers tuned in, which was a 51% drop from the previous year. While the Academy didn’t confirm the low ratings are the reason for the maneuver to move some categories off-air, it’s easy to assume it’s the reason.
This isn’t the first time the Academy has attempted to shift the traditional scope of the awards. In 2019, the Oscars were to announce several below-the-line categories during commercial breaks. Artists and talent spoke up on behalf of the craftspeople behind those categories and the producers abandoned the plans. Many are already hoping the same will happen this year.
In a letter from Academy President David Rubin, he stated that the move to shift some categories outside of the live broadcast will allow more time for comedy, film clips, and musical numbers.
The 94th Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 27.
Here is Rubin’s full letter:
Dear Fellow Academy Members,
We’re excited to present a 94th Oscars broadcast that both honors the year’s achievements in motion pictures and provides boundless entertainment for our global audience of movie lovers. After carefully listening to feedback and suggestions from our film community, our network partner, and all those who love the Oscars, it was evident we needed to make some decisions about the broadcast that are in the best interest of the future of our show and our organization.
When deciding how to produce the Oscars, we recognize it’s a live event television show and we must prioritize the television audience to increase viewer engagement and keep the show vital, kinetic, and relevant. This has been an important focus of discussion for quite some time. We do this while also remembering the importance of having our nominees relish a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
In order to provide more time and opportunity for audience entertainment and engagement through comedy, musical numbers, film clip packages and movie tributes, a change in the show’s production will take place. This year’s show producers and Academy leadership with oversight of the Oscars have made the decision, with endorsement from the officers and the Awards Committee, that every awards category must be featured on the television broadcast, though eight awards will initially be presented in the Dolby Theatre in the hour before the live broadcast begins.
They will not be presented in the pre-show nor on the red carpet, as some have speculated. Instead, the in-person ceremony at the Dolby Theatre will begin one hour earlier to present eight awards categories before the live telecast starts. Those presentations will then be edited by our creative and production teams and will be folded seamlessly into the live televised show.
To be clear, all the nominees in ALL awards categories will be identified on air and ALL winners’ acceptance speeches will be featured on the live broadcast. Every awarded filmmaker and artist in every category will still have the celebratory ‘Oscar moment’ they deserve on the stage of the Dolby, facing an enrapt audience.
For the audience at home, the show’s flow does not change, though it will become tighter and more electric with this new cadence, and the live broadcast should end – yes, with the Best Picture category – at the three-hour mark.
This year, those categories presented in the evening’s first hour and seen later in the live broadcast are, alphabetically: Documentary (Short Subject), Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Production Design, Short Film (Animated), Short Film (Live Action), and Sound.
The categories to be presented live on this year’s broadcast are, alphabetically: Actor in a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role, Actress in a Leading Role, Actress in a Supporting Role, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Documentary (Feature), International Feature Film, Music (Original Song), Visual Effects, Writing (Adapted Screenplay), and Writing (Original Screenplay).
We realize these kinds of changes can prompt concern about equity, and we ask you to understand our goal has been to find a balance in which nominees, winners, members, and viewing audience all have a rewarding show experience. Moving forward we will assess this change and will continue to look for additional ways to make our show more entertaining and more thrilling for all involved, inside the Dolby Theatre and watching from home.
Every Academy branch and award category is indispensable to the success of a film and vital to this industry. Both our challenge and our goal is to create an exciting, streamlined Oscars show without sacrificing the long-held fundamentals of our organization. We appreciate your understanding and will be grateful for your unwavering support.
Sincerely,
David Rubin
