Oscars reverse course: All awards will be presented during telecast

Bowing to fierce blowback from the film industry — and throwing yet another wrench into an already tumultuous Oscar season — the motion picture academy announced Friday that it is shelving a controversial plan to move the presentation of four key awards to commercial breaks during this year’s telecast. In an official statement, the academy’s leadership said, “The Academy has heard the feedback from its membership regarding the Oscar presentation of four awards — Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling. It’s an extremely important organization for our city, for our people and for our filmmakers.” First announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board of governors in August — with specific categories unveiled on Monday — the plan would have shifted the presentation of the awards for cinematography, editing, hairstyling and makeup and live-action short to commercial breaks. “Viewing patterns for the Academy Awards are changing quickly in our current multimedia world, and our show must also evolve to successfully continue promoting motion pictures to a worldwide audience,” academy President John Bailey wrote in a letter to members explaining the move, even as he assured them that the group was “still honoring the achievements of all 24 awards on the Oscars.” The flap is just the latest in a string of crises that have roiled this awards season, whipsawing academy members and longtime Oscar observers alike. “Keeping those on the show and throwing aside cinematography and editing doesn’t make any sense.” Hundreds of directors, actors and other film professionals, including past Oscar winners as notable as Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep and current nominees such as Alfonso Cuarón, Emma Stone, Spike Lee and Glenn Close, signed an open letter calling the plan “nothing less than an insult to those of us who have devoted our lives and passions to our chosen profession.” Various guilds including the American Society of Cinematographers, International Cinematographers Guild, American Cinema Editors and the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild also made public statements in opposition of the plan.