LOS ANGELES — The motion picture academy’s announcement Tuesday that it will shift the presentation of eight awards out of the upcoming Oscars telecast has sparked a chorus of criticism, revealing frictions within the organization as it struggles to save Hollywood’s biggest night from the existential threat of declining ratings.
According to the academy’s plan, which was revealed in an email to its roughly 10,000 members, five below-the-line awards and the three short film awards will be handed out in the Dolby Theatre in the hour before the March 27 Oscars telecast begins. While the starriest of the 23 categories will have their envelope-opening moments shown live on the air, the presentation of the affected categories — film editing, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design, sound, documentary short subject, animated short and live-action short — will be edited into the broadcast in a truncated form.
A similar plan to shift four award presentations off the live show was proposed in 2018, only to be revoked shortly before the 2019 Oscars in the wake of industry pushback largely spearheaded by cinematographers (a category which is notably set to be presented on this year’s live show). Tuesday’s announcement was met with predictably sharp criticism both from within the organization’s own ranks and outspoken film lovers on social media. The critics dub the decision an act of disrespect, made in the pursuit of ratings, toward the very art that the Oscars are meant to celebrate.
