The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, quickly approaching their 94th annual Oscars ceremony, has been hard at work tweaking its voting process to create a more fair and even awards system in addition to adapting to modern needs. Now, the Academy has set its sights on another adaptation: the banning of DVD screeners in favor of directing voters to the specialized Academy Screening Room.
The Academy Screening Room was a major element of last year's voting process, as the vast majority of theaters were closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which could have made it harder for Oscars voters to screen some films were it not for a dedicated streaming service. With the Academy Screening Room, voters are able to watch all films submitted for eligibility to the 94th Academy Awards, though the Documentary and International Feature branches will receive films available to them specifically. The Academy Screening Room can showcase films from the major streaming services as well as films from smaller distributors, leading to an even playing field where eligible films can be located in the same place at once.
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Deadline reports the first four films to be made available in the screening room include one film from Netflix and three from Amazon: The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Annette, The Tomorrow War, and Coming 2 America. The first is expected to be aiming specifically for the Best Animated Feature category, while the time-travel thriller The Tomorrow War, the comedy sequel Coming 2 America, and the bizarre Adam Driver-led musical Annetteare all expected to vie for various applicable technical categories.
Historically, DVD screeners of awards-seeking films were sent directly to Academy members by mail, oftentimes coming to voters in decorative packaging to evoke confidence in the film. With the use of DVD screeners officially being banned by the Academy, distributors may not have to invest large sums of money in making those DVDs, but they now must pay the Academy $12,500 dollars for each film they want available on the service, with optional fees going toward the addition of perks such as Q&As and an e-mail alerting voters of the film's availability.
There are a few setbacks to the sudden change, such as the steep price of making films available on the service as well as adjustments that some voters might need to make to how they watch submissions. But having every major awards-seeking film in the same place—from major action blockbusters like Dune to adventurous horrors like Edgar Wright's upcoming Last Night in Soho—can only mean good things for the Oscar races. With every film in the same place, who knows what unconventional films Academy voters might have a chance to discover and champion.
Additional tweaks being made for the Oscars include new additions to the voting body as well as diversity initiatives for the eligibility of films. Frequent changes are especially important since the cancellation of the next Golden Globes ceremony's NBC broadcast proves that major awards must be willing to adapt.
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Source: Deadline
