This is a subject we’ve old-man-yelling-at-cloud a lot. The fact that the Academy Awards, who hand out the Oscars for achievements in film, still does not have a category to recognize stunts after 97 years, is BAFFLING. The year we all thought it would finally happen was 2016, following the landmark work in George Miller‘s “Mad Max: Fury Road.” (That was also just a really strong year for stunts and action films in general.)
The Academy DID announce two new categories joining the telecast, the first being for….casting. Yeah, CASTING. True, most other major awards shows across the globe do already honor casting, but it just seems like the wrong choice for the Oscars.
“The Academy is like a living, breathing organism,” Academy President Janet Yang said. “We listen to our members, and if there’s really strong support and there’s whole mechanisms for how to advance the cause, and they’re interested… That’s what happened with Casting. We’ve created new branches over the decades. So it does evolve, and it evolves with the changing industry.”
This morning in an exclusive report from Empire Magazine, it sounds like the Board is finally considering adding stunts.
“We’re talking to members of the stunt community who are Academy members about the possibility of that,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said. “We added a new award that will launch in two years for Casting Directors,” he notes, “so we’re always open to those discussions.”
Needless to say, we are really hoping this happens. It’s time the hardworking stunt teams and performers get their accolades, too.
Casting will officially be a part of the 98th annual Academy Awards, for films released in 2025.
