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Changes Announced for the 98th Academy Awards Voting Process

The Board of Governors of the Academy Awards has taken significant steps to enhance the integrity of the voting process ahead of the 98th annual ceremony. In a recent press release, the Academy revealed that all members will now be mandated to view every nominated film before they can cast their votes in the main competitive categories. This policy change, along with other forthcoming adjustments, promises to influence the outcome of the awards each year. However, the extent of this impact will become clearer in due course, and many industry observers may be expressing a sense of overdue relief.

Historically, it has been seen as somewhat unjust that Academy members were not obligated to watch all the films in the categories for which they voted. Instituting a requirement to view these films appears to be a necessary step toward ensuring fairness for the films and nominees involved, and seems to align with the sentiments of the Board of Governors. “In a procedural change, Academy members must now watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars®,” stated the Board in their official communication.

The Academy Aims to Address a Long-Known Issue in Voting

If you follow award shows, you might be familiar with numerous reports about anonymous voters admitting that many do not see all nominated films before making their selections. Up until this announcement, there were no comprehensive requirements for voters across all branches to have screened all nominated works prior to their voting. It is important to note, however, that some viewing standards were previously enforced in specific categories, such as Documentaries and Short Films.

In a response to inquiries from Entertainment Weekly, an Academy representative elaborated on the new measures, confirming that titles not viewed will still appear on ballots but with a gray out to signify they have not been screened. “For the specialty categories, we will still require viewing in preliminaries and nominations as usual. For this year, we will now require viewing for final voting across all categories and all voting members,” the statement clarified. Tracking of viewership is facilitated through the Academy Screening Room website, which allows voting members to view nominated films. If members choose to watch films outside this platform, they must submit a “seen elsewhere” form prior to final voting.

In addition to the viewing rules, the press release outlined new eligibility guidelines for the recently introduced casting category and provided clarity regarding the role of generative AI in film. The announcement asserts that “each branch will evaluate the achievement, considering how much human involvement was present in the creative authorship when determining awards.” Key dates for upcoming nominations and submissions were also addressed in the release.

For further details, you can read the full press release here.

Source
movieweb.com