It’s been a week since the 96th Oscars came to a rushed close and it turned out to be a big “whew” for The Academy. Despite some unfortunate discourse over Jonathan Glazer‘s acceptance speech, this awards season ended with no serious controversies, no embarrassing upsets, and an uptick in television ratings (whether it’s enough for ABC to pay big bucks for the telecast remains to be seen). And despite winning just one statue, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” had its moment on the Dolby Theater stage in more ways than one (thank you, Ryan Gosling).
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Before the ceremony, there was some intriguing polling by research firm NRG that demonstrated that interest in the Oscars was still high, but generationally, younger viewers (Gen Z, mainly) are following the results and moments more on social media than watching the actual broadcast. And figuring out how to change that trend is no doubt a bigger priority for AMPAS than who ends up hosting the show. Revising the contract with ABC so it can stream live on Hulu will help somewhat, but likely just tangentially. But how do you solve that problem? If The Academy can figure it out than network and cable executives will want to know their secret. Honestly, the broadcast is probably a few years away from being simulcast on TikTok or Insta Live (you think we’re kidding).
For those knee deep in the awards game, the end of another Oscars seasons means a chance to decompress and to soak in what worked and what didn’t. That means new rules moving forward as every studio hopes to have another smooth sailing “Oppenheimer” campaign on their upcoming slate. So, let’s get onto it, shall, we?
Give Sundance and SXSW a break
If anyone from The Academy is reading this, or a member with any influence (more likely), it’s time to give two of America’s film festivals a break from the big, imposing shadow of the Oscars. Somehow, we are back to having the Oscar nominations on the first Tuesday of the Sundance Film Festival after years of it taking place either the week before or the week after. The last thing Sundance needs is media and talent leaving Sunday or Monday night in anticipation of covering the big announcement. Even moving it to – gasp – the Wednsday or Thursday after Sundance starts would be a kind gesture. Worse, however, is the fact for the last two years the Oscars have occurred over the opening weekend of SXSW, a weekend designated for film by SXSW forever. Considering the state of independent film and theatrical distribution (SXSW is a market festival, mind you), is it not embarrassing to capitalize on their historic second-weekend slot in March? And this is after rumors have circulated The Academy said that after 2023, they would make sure it didn’t conflict again. I guess ABC wins? These are not hard fixes and only benefit the two festivals that debuted the Oscars winners for 2022 and 2023. I mean, come on.
Blow up the Live Action Short category
Thank god Wes Anderson and “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” won this category. Netflix and Wes saved The Academy the embarrassment of any of the other four nominees winning. Because, once again, this was a crop of nominees that in no way represented the best of narrative short films out there. I mean, some of these nominees are bad. The Academy is hoping that creating separate Animation and Short Film branches will help alleviate this problem in future years, but we’re not so sure that’s the solution. Too many of the members volunteering to vote in the early rounds of this process are long retired and have questionable taste (truth hurts). There has to be a better solution involving committee influence (perhaps on the shortlist?) to avoid some of these clunkers. Maybe The Academy doesn’t care because the media isn’t paying attention and members’ aren’t either, but it’s increasingly becoming an eye-brow-raising problem.
BAFTA No Longer Dead
Following last year’s four-for-four SAG to Oscars sweep across all four acting categories many pundits were insisting that the changes to BAFTA’s nomination structure had limited the predictive power of the trans-Atlantic voting body. Not so fast. The Brits had a comeback this season. BAFTA winners lined up perfectly with 18 of 19 similar Oscar categories only missing out on Visual Effects where its winner, “Poor Things,” wasn’t nominated (additionally, the short categories are not comparable and there is no Original Song for BAFTA). One might suggest this was a random year for the organization’s overlap, except one movie didn’t completely dominate the proceedings (“Oppenheimer’s seven wins aside). There has been a large overlap with AMPAS and BAFTA membership for some time. The SAG membership is not the same as the Actor’s branch of the Academy. Ignore this at your peril.
Too many contenders for one studio is a problem
As a distributor, even if all your players aren’t aiming for Best Picture, you have to know your bandwidth. Even Miramax/The Weinstein Company could only pull off so much (and often after throwing every possible contender against the wall to see if they stuck). Even the old Warner Bros. marketing machine could pull so much off. Despite the best of intentions, bringing too many players onto your Oscars season slate can lead to long-term resentment among financiers, producers, filmmakers, and above-the-line talent. Is that in any company’s best interest? Ponder. (Although this is a reminder the industry still needs a distributor back in the mix to fill the hole the departure of The Weinstein Company left).
Stop going overboard (and you know who you are)
We’re going to try to approach this as delicately and respectfully as possible because every filmmaker, performance, and artisan deserves a moment in the sun. That being said, for a studio or distributor, there’s an equilibrium between making talent happy, going for the win, and simply overdoing it. We warned y’all last year that the “Everything Everywhere All At Once” red carpet and media deluge was likely a once-in-a-decade thing. Unless you have the beloved Jamie Lee Curtis steering the ship it’s not a sustainable model. That moment will be extremely difficult to duplicate moving forward. Social media only amplifies every part of a campaign and not always through the best lens. And not just for the public, we’re talking guild voters and AMPAS members. Doing somewhat less can be more (emphasis on “somewhat”) and putting on the brakes on a campaign can actually be a good thing.
International Film Edition: Pick the best movie stupid
Since the International Film Oscar (formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film) was introduced in 1948, France has the most nominations of any country with 41. And it has the second most wins overall with 12. In fact, at one point it was tied with Italy for the most overall wins. But France has not taken this category since 1993 when “Indocine” took the prize. Comparably, it’s coastal neighbor has won twice in the 31 years since. C’est vrai! This past year, France could have submitted Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning “Anatomy of a Fall.” A critically acclaimed movie that won the top prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival with a jury featuring five AMPAS members. Did they? Fun fact: No. After years of frustration over a lack of success, “Anatomy’s” win coincided with France’s selection committee process undergoing a shake-up. For 2023, the new committee chose Tran Anh Hung’s period drama “The Taste of Things” starring former Oscar winner Juliette Binoche. Why this happened is still unclear. Perhaps the committee was uncomfortable with how much English was spoken in “Anatomy.” Maybe the fact that “Taste” is inherently about French cooking made it seem more representative of the culture. Whatever the case, “Anatomy” earned five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and Triet and her partner Arthur Harari won Best Original Screenplay. “Taste” made the shortlist in a very weak year, but was shut out of the final five. To pour more salt on the wound, throughout this past awards season, “Anatomy” swept almost every International Film or Foreign Language Film honor and, not only dominated the European Film Awards but almost swept France’s version of the Oscars, the Cesar Awards! Would it have beaten fellow Best Picture nominee “The Zone of Interest” in this category? Some would say it likely would have. At worst, it would have been close a race. Considering 30 years of ongoing frustration for the French, this was yet another reminder to just pick the best movie you have available and don’t over think it (and a lesson for other nations as well).
The Original Song category needs a makeover
If the Live Action category needs to be blown up, the Original Song category is waiting for the smoke to clear for its own reboot. Luckily, members keep selecting strong winners along the lines of Billie Eilish and Finneas‘ “What Was I Made For?” and “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” last year (although we would have voted for “Lift Me Up” if we could have), but time and time again too many unmemorable nominees are making the cut. And that’s not even counting the Diane Warren problem which is another year from turning into a “60 Minutes” expose. You could argue that only the two “Barbie” nominees deserved to be recognized this year and the limit on two nominees per film needs to be revisited (yes, Dula Peep was robbed). No one is limiting the number of acting nominees from a movie and they shouldn’t be limiting the songs either. This year alone shortlist selections “Am I Dreaming” from “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and the Olivia Rodrigo penned ballad from “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” were much better compositions and had more cultural impact than the three other nominees. And that’s not even taking into consideration the songs snubbed from the shortlist or the fact too many great songs are not considered because they partially play over closing credits. This all reaks of a voting branch out of touch and, often, voting for their friends or, worse, the familiar. And if The Academy isn’t worried about this you can bet its telecast partner ABC certainly is. Fixing this category is one way to help push the ceremony into the 21st Century.
December release won’t cut it
Only two Best Picture winners since 2005 have been released in December (“Million Dollar Baby” and “The Shape of Water”). The last three winners were all in theaters before September 1. The last five winners before Nov. 1. You can screen for every guild and AMPAS member you can find from Labor Day weekend forward, but it inherently matters. Even a streamer such as Netflix benefited from dropping “All Quiet on the Western Front” on its service in September of 2022 instead of November or December of that year. Basically, if you’re arriving “publicly” in December? You don’t stand a chance.
REMINDER: If you Cannes, Cannes, Cannes…Cannes!
Listen, if you have a good movie, as our last rule just noted…debuting earlier is preferable in the current theatrical climate. And, once again, Cannes has made its mark on an awards season. Eight, yes, eight world premieres at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival earned 2024 Oscar nominations. More importantly, they earned two Best Picture nominations, 23 noms overall, and won three categories. Sure, maybe Disney made a mistake bringing “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” to la Croisette, but that movie had problems from the jump. But it was a picture-perfect send-off for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “May December” left La Croisette with a ton of legitimate hype, “Perfect Days” demonstrated that Japan had several contenders to choose from, “Four Daughters” became a surprise doc player, the animation branch recognized the genius of “Robot Dreams,” “Elemental” recovered from reviews that would have been just as tough back home outside of a festival premiere (critics now being too harsh on Pixar movies is wild), and “Anatomy” and “Zone” battled it out for the Palme. Perhaps Venice, Telluride, or TIFF aren’t always the best, first choice.
Avoid the social media bubble
Speaking of “May December,” perhaps no movie or campaign personified the dangers of the social media bubble this season than Todd Haynes‘ melodrama. If you were to read the proclimations on Twitter, TikTok, or Instagram you would have thought Charles Melton was a shoo-in for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. And while he was recognized by several top critics groups including the NYFCC and a genuinely competitive Gotham Award win, his campaign was mostly a red herring (five random industry Gotham voters is not a reflective sample, sorry). Despite all the hype, not only didn’t Melton find himself snubbed from the BAFTA longlists, but he was snubbed by SAG and thee Oscars as well. And yet, as those red flags appeared, social media was still influencing the traditional media to cover him as a front-runner. And that ain’t good. In some ways, you could also see this play out regarding Lily Gladstone‘s awards season run. The BAFTA longlist snub was a “whoa,” but when she took SAG (we’ll save our thoughts on SAG voters for another day) the reaction online was she’d take the crown. This despite her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio getting overlooked almost everywhere else and genuine signs The Academy didn’t love “Killers” (and listen, maybe if she hadn’t switched from Supporting Actress to Lead Actress she would have won, but…choices). To be frank, a lot of AMPAS members are on social media. And they no doubt pay attention to trends, memes, and interview bites, but any member (as well as awards consultant) will tell you they simply don’t vote for who the media thinks they should vote for. That pressure might encourage them to take the time to watch a movie they may not have considered previously, but that’s pretty much it. I mean, even social media wanted Diane Warren to not land another Original Song nom, and that didn’t happen. Most studios and distributors know this by now. They get it. The problem is the casual media (and even some trade media) who are living in a bubble. So much so that we’re having one or two of these examples every single year. It’s becoming exhausting.
SAG-Spirits-PGA over voting weekend…works?
It might have been a nightmare for talent and publicists but, having the SAG Awards, the Spirit Awards, and the PGA Awards over the final Oscars voting weekend absolutely benefited all involved. It led to great talent turnouts at all three events and was a great spotlight for several major contenders. It did lead to less attendance at the post-Spirits parties, but perhaps the PGA could be persuaded to start an hour later next year. Dare to dream?
That pretty much closes the book on the 2024 Oscars season. 2025 has already started with “His Three Daughters” and “Sing Sing” debuting at TIFF 2023 and “A Real Pain” premiering at Sundance this past January. Things will really kick into gear two months from now at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.