The Oscars are more than a month away, and the details of the program have been a last straw, as the season presents several challenges for award programs and ratings. In a letter to this year’s Oscar nominees, the show’s producers, Emmy nominee Jesse Collins (“Zoboomafoo”), Oscar nominee Stacey Sher (“Django Unchained” and “Erin Brockovich”) and Oscar winner Steven Steven Soderbergh (best director for “Traffic” 2000 “) announced that there will be no Zoom option for artists who choose not to attend, either because of” scheduling or continuous discomfort in traveling “.
Taking impeccable notes from the Golden Globes and the Emmy that had the winners accepting their awards via Zoom, the producers declare: “We are doing everything to provide a safe and pleasant night for all of you personally, as well as for all the millions of movie fans around the world, and we feel that the virtual thing will lessen these efforts. “
The trio also gave notes on how to keep speeches short, so that the show would not last “too long” and encouraged eventual winners to “read the room” and “tell a story”.
The practical aspects of the show were also shared and described in the email, which characterized the meeting as “an intimate and in-person event” that will take place at Union Station in Los Angeles, with additional elements of the show taking place live at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. With a strong emphasis on safety, Oscar will treat the show as an active film set, with “test cadences specifically designed” to guarantee up-to-date results, including an on-site COVID security team with PCR testing capabilities.
Additional instructions will be sent to nominees who travel from outside Los Angeles directly.
Emphasizing the message that “stories matter”, the program’s producers are requesting that all nominees be interviewed briefly to ensure that everyone receives equal prominence. The objective is to highlight the connections between “all of us who work in the cinema and show that the process is exclusively intimate, collaborative and fun”. No details were shared about who would interview them or when they would be shown during the show.
There will also be a pre-show meeting in the Union Station courtyard for the previous 90 minutes with nominees and guests. Only guests and presenters will be present in the live broadcast.
Also included are details on the evening dress code, which aims to be “a fusion of inspirational and aspirational, which in real words means” formal is cool if you want to go there, but casual is not. “In other words, there will be no jean moments from Larry McMurtry (Oscar-winning screenwriter for” Brokeback Mountain “).
The nominations announced on March 15 were the most diverse and inclusive field in 93 years of history. Two filmmakers, Chloé Zhao from “Nomadland” and Emerald Fennell from “Promising young woman”, were nominated for best director, with their films receiving nominations for best film. Nine of the 20 acting slots have been recognized by the POC, including Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), the late Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Steven Yeun and Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”) , Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), Leslie Odom Jr (“A Night in Miami”) and Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”).
Oscar will air on Sunday, April 25, on ABC.
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