It’s not every year that the Academy for Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences makes rule changes for the Oscars. We did see a big one for the latest ceremony though. It was the first time an awards category was opened for casting. That was huge. Obviously choosing the right people for the right role is a big aspect to filmmaking. Acting itself is also a huge part of things and a substantial rule change is coming that could dramatically impact the acting categories for better or worse.
Shaking Up The Acting Races
In previous award ceremonies, there have been circumstances where a person could get nominated multiple times in the same category. For example, in 1977 John Williams was nominated for both Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He did the same thing in 1989 for Born on the Fourth of July and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Actually did it a few more times than that, but you get the point. However, the ability to do this was never afforded to the acting categories. Someone could be nominated in Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the same year. This has happened every so often. But multiple nominations in the same acting category in the same year were not allowed. Now that is changing.
Starting with the 2017 ceremony, actors and actresses may now receive multiple nominations for the same acting category. So, let’s say, Ted Danson grabbed two leading roles in films. Now let’s say they were both extraordinary. In previous years, studios may have tried to justify submitting one for Best Actor and another for Best Supporting Actor, even if one was more than a supporting role. Now, both roles could be submitted for lead actor. Go for the gold, Ted!
Of course, this does run the risk of a category getting dominated by someone who has an exceptional year. Is that fair? It’s a good question but one that has ultimately been answered by the Academy as, “Yes.” It would be interesting to go back through the years and see how things would have been different if this rule had been in effect at the time.
More Changes in Other Categories
There were a couple of other changes outside of the acting categories as well. One of them is with Best International Feature. Previously, this award was accepted by the director of a film but actually awarded to the country itself. Strange, yes. We know. Now going forward, the director will actually be credited for the film. The nomination process is different now too. The previous rules stated that a film had to be officially nominated by the country itself. Now, a win at a qualifying awards ceremony can make it eligible for the Oscars too.
A final note about rule changes is kind of a funny one for Best Original Song. In previous years, a song could just be dumped at the start of the end credits and it would be eligible. Now, the song has to include the last 15 seconds of the film before the end credits start rolling. A small change but a significant one. At least that song has to match up with what’s happening at the tale end of the movie.
Oscar season is still a long way away. We eagerly anticipate seeing how these new changes will shake things up later in the year.
