In an under-the-radar move that will delight many in Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has added a new category to the Academy Awards. Beginning with the 98th Oscars in 2026, an achievement in Casting Oscar will be handed out for the first time. This is a delight to the 160-member Casting Directors branch of the Academy which was formed in 2013 and has never had its own award.
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In a statement, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang noted, “Casting directors play an essential role in filmmaking, and as the Academy evolves, we are proud to add casting to the disciplines that we recognize and celebrate. We congratulate our Casting Directors Branch members on this exciting milestone and for their commitment and diligence throughout this process.”Academy Casting Directors Branch governors Richard Hicks, Kim Taylor-Coleman, and Debra Zane added, “On behalf of the members of the Casting Directors Branch, we’d like to thank the Board of Governors, the Awards Committee and Academy leadership for their support. This award is a deserved acknowledgment of our casting directors’ exceptional talents and a testament to the dedicated efforts of our branch.”
Unfortunately for films released in 2024, the Academy is not ready yet to fully implement the new category. Eligibility rules and a voting calendar for the inaugural award will be announced in April 2025 with the complete 98th Academy Awards Rules. The Academy has also left the door open as to if and when the award will be handed out on the live telecast noting, “The specifics of the award’s presentation will be determined by the Academy’s Board of Governors and its administrative leadership at a future date.”
The last new category added to the Academy Awards was the Oscar for Animated Feature Film in 2021. This news will be disappointing to stunt performers who have campaigned for their own Oscar for decades. When the SAG Awards established a Stunt Performance by an Ensemble honor in 2007 many thought it would help with momentum in establishing a similar honor at the Oscars. That has turned out not to be the case.
The Academy is not the first peer organization to hand out Casting awards. The BAFTA Awards has had a Best Casting Award since 2019. This year’s nominees are “All of Us Strangers,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Holdovers,” “How To Have Sex,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The Emmy Awards also has multiple Casting Awards including Drama Series and Comedy Series. The Television Academy began handing out those honors in 1994.