OSCARS
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Producer Janet Yang was re-elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the organization’s board of governors, the Academy announced on Tuesday (Aug. 1).
Yang is the fourth woman to serve as president of the Academy. Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis was the first in 1941, though she resigned after just two months in the post. Fay Kanin served from 1979-83; Cheryl Boone Isaacs reigned from 2013-17.
Yang is beginning her second term as president and her fifth year as a governor-at-large, a position for which she was nominated by sitting Academy president David Rubin in 2019 and elected by the board of governors in 2022.
Yang’s film producing credits include The Joy Luck Club, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Zero Effect, High Crimes, Dark Matter, Shanghai Calling and the Oscar-nominated animated feature Over the Moon. She won a Primetime Emmy in 1995 for the HBO film Indictment: The McMartin Trial, which was voted outstanding made for television movie. A member of the Academy’s producers branch since 2002, Yang previously served on the board as vp and chair of the membership committee and, prior to that, the membership and governance committee.
Also elected to officer positions by the board:
Bonnie Arnold, vice president (chair, membership committee)
Howard Berger, vice president (chair, museum committee)
Brooke Breton, vice president (chair, education and outreach committee)
Tom Duffield, vice president/treasurer (chair, finance committee)
DeVon Franklin, vice president (chair, equity and inclusion committee)
Lynette Howell Taylor, vice president (chair, awards committee)
Howard A. Rodman, vice president/secretary (chair, governance committee)
Kim Taylor-Coleman, vice president (chair, history and preservation committee)
Howell Taylor and Taylor-Coleman were re-elected as officers. It will be the first officer stint for Berger, Breton, Duffield and Rodman. Arnold previously served as an officer in 2019-20 and Franklin in 2021-22.
“I am thrilled to welcome this year’s board officers,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in a statement. “Under Janet’s esteemed leadership, these dedicated governors will guide the Academy’s ongoing efforts to elevate the work of our global membership and film community, highlight our industry’s rich history, foster meaningful dialogue and continue to build equity and inclusion in every aspect of our organization.”
The board of governors sets the Academy’s strategic vision, preserves the organization’s financial health and assures the fulfillment of its mission.
Board members may serve up to two three-year terms (consecutive or non-consecutive), followed by a two-year hiatus, after which eligibility renews for up to two additional three-year terms for a lifetime maximum of 12 years. Officers serve one-year terms, with a maximum of four consecutive years in any one office.
Mahyar Abousaeedi – Turning Red, Incredibles 2
Tom Berkeley – An Irish Goodbye, Roy
Toni Bestard – Background, Foley Artist
Kimberley Browning – Certified, Waiting for Ronald
Alex Bulkley – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Hell and Back
Bruno Caetano – Ice Merchants, The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mr. Jay
Dean Fleischer Camp – Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Catherine
Kenneth A. Carlson – Diner Formal, Dating Avi
Trent Correy – The Godfather of the Bride, Drop
Joel Bryan Crawford – Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Croods: A New Age
Claire Dodgson – Minions: The Rise of Gru, Despicable Me 3
Fabian Driehorst – Night, The Chimney Swift
David DuLac – Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Happy Feet Two
Maureen Fan – Namoo, Crow: The Legend
Tiffany Frances – Dot, Hello from Taiwan
João Gonzalez – Ice Merchants, Nestor
Sara Gunnarsdóttir – My Year of Dicks, The Pirate of Love
Mark Gustafson – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Travis Hathaway – Incredibles 2, Brave
David Jesteadt – Inu-oh, Belle
Daniel Mark Jeup – Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2
Thomas Jordan – Lightyear, Up
Charlie Mackesy – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Ian Megibben – Lightyear, Soul
Cyrus Neshvad – The Red Suitcase, The Orchid
Jaime Ray Newman – Skin, Life, Unexpected.
Richard O’Connor – My Friend Nearly Killed Patti Smith, Marianne
Lachlan Pendragon – An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It, The Toll
Jesús Pimentel Melo – Miramelinda, Un Bel Morir
Emmanuel-Alain Raynal – Steakhouse, Easter Eggs
David Ryu – Luca, Coco
Nidia Santiago – Negative Space, Oh Willy…
Mónica Santos – Between the Shadows, Amélia & Duarte
Nelson Shin – Empress Chung, The Transformers: The Movie
Eirik Tveiten – Night Ride, Other Lives
Nathan Warner – Encanto, Zootopia
Ross White – An Irish Goodbye, Roy
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Iconic actress Angela Bassett will be honored with an Oscar at an upcoming ceremony, ending years of missing out.
On Monday (June 26th), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the 64-year-old veteran performer would receive an honorary Oscar at the upcoming Governors Awards. Director, writer, and actor Mel Brooks will also be receiving an Oscar at the event along with film editor Carol Littleton. The award is meant “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or outstanding service to the Academy.”
“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” said Academy President Janet Yang in the announcement. “Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting.”
Bassett had been recently nominated at this year’s Academy Awards for her role as Queen Ramonda in Wakanda Forever, the 2022 sequel to Black Panther. That nomination for the best supporting actress was her second in the category, and it made her the first actor from a Marvel Studios film and the first woman from a superhero film to be considered. The seven-time Emmy Award winner had previously been nominated for Best Actress portraying the late Tina Turner in the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do With It.
The news of the honorary Oscar did garner reactions from some who felt that it was the Academy’s way to try to cover up her not being awarded a competitive Oscar for her work. Journalist Jerome Trammel pointed this out in a post on Twitter, writing: “The Academy Awards wanting Angela Bassett to accept an honorary Oscar is insulting. She BEEN earned it authentically & they’re trying to clean up the fact that racism runs deep in that show’s process. Calling it honorary leaves a stain that she didn’t get it by “their” standards.”
Last year, Michael J. Fox was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, with honorary Oscars going to director Euzhan Palcy, songwriter Diane Warren, and director Peter Weir. The 14th annual Governors Awards will take place on November 18th in Los Angeles, California. The 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10th, 2024.
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Photo: Getty
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The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has approved new requirements for Oscar eligibility in the best picture category. The new requirements, announced Wednesday (June 21), are designed to to broaden the public theatrical exhibition criteria. They take effect with the 97th Academy Awards, which will be presented in […]
At the Oscars in February 1954 (see photo accompanying this list), Disney won four Oscars – best documentary feature (The Living Desert), best documentary short subject (The Alaskan Eskimo), best cartoon short subject (Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom) and best two-reel short subject (Bear Country). No one else had ever won more than two awards in one night.
On accepting his fourth award of the night, for Bear Country, Disney joked, “I’ve just gotta say one more word. It’s wonderful — but I think this is my year to retire.”
Happily, he did not retire. In the remaining 12+ years of his life, he opened Disneyland, launched an Emmy-winning TV series (initially called Walt Disney’s Disneyland) and co-produced the beloved film musical Mary Poppins.
Runners-up, with three Oscars in one night, are (listed chronologically): Billy Wilder (The Apartment, 1961), Marvin Hamlisch (The Way We Were, The Sting, 1974), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Part II, 1975), James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, 1984), James Cameron (Titanic, 1998), Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004), Ethan Cohen and Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men, 2008), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 2015), Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite, 2020) and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023).
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In a move we’re sure no one asked for, veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss defended the use of blackface and revealed his true feelings on diversity and the Oscars.
While appearing as a guest on PBS’ The Firing Line, the new criteria by the Academy Awards for eligibility for Best Picture come 2024 came up for discussion by the host, Margaret Hoover. Nominated films are required to meet four benchmarks: 30% of the cast and 30% of the crew must be from an under-represented group are two of the criteria needed. Dreyfuss stated, “They make me vomit.”
When asked why, the Jaws actor replied: “This is an art form. It’s also a form of commerce, and it makes money, but it’s an art. No one should be telling me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is.” He then went on to add: “And what are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate that. And you have to let life be life.”
Dreyfuss then praised Sir Laurence Olivier’s portrayal of the tragic Shakespearean hero Othello – while in blackface – in the 1965 film adaptation of the play. “He played a Black man brilliantly,” the 75-year-old told Hoover. “Am I being told that I will never have a chance to play a Black man? Is someone else being told that if they’re not Jewish, they shouldn’t play the Merchant of Venice?”
Hoover responded with a query: “Do you think there’s a difference between the question of…who is allowed to represent other groups…and the case of blackface explicitly in this country given the history of slavery and the sensitivities around Black racism?” To that, Dreyfuss replied, “There shouldn’t be…. Because it’s patronizing. Because it says we’re so fragile that we can’t have our feelings hurt. We have to anticipate having our feelings hurt, our children’s feelings hurt. We don’t know how to stand up and bop the bully in the face.”
Dreyfuss’ defense of blackface seems on-brand given his previous role in the 1986 film Moon over Parador. The interview follows another moment of questionable thinking for the Close Encounters of the Third Kind actor where he slipped off a chair while being interviewed in April by late-night host Bill Maher for his Club Random podcast. Watch the full interview below.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced Monday (May 1) that Wednesday, Nov. 1, will be the final submission deadline in the two music categories for the upcoming 96th annual Academy Awards – original score and original song.
The Board of Governors also established two submission deadlines for general entry categories. Submission deadlines are Sept. 15 (for films released from Jan. 1 to June 30) and Nov. 15 (for films released from July 1 to Dec. 31). Several other film categories will also have two submission deadlines.
In the best picture category, inclusion standards requirements, which were approved by the Academy’s board of governors in 2020, will take effect for the 96th Oscars. Eligibility will be contingent upon submission of the Representation and Inclusion Entry Form (RAISE) and the film meeting the requirements of at least two of the four inclusion standards. For more information on the inclusion standards, visit raise.oscars.org/home.
Other awards rules changes include:
The international feature film category rules now stipulate that selection committees must be comprised of at least 50% filmmakers (artists and/or craftspeople).
In the live action short film category, voting privileges will be extended to all Academy members who opt in to participate.
The Academy’s board of governors also approved campaign promotional regulations. The new rules specify how film companies and individuals directly associated with Oscars-eligible motion pictures may promote such films, achievements and performances to Academy members and how Academy members may promote Oscars-eligible motion films, achievements and performances. The Academy is calling it the most significant overhaul of campaign promotional regulations since the inception of these rules in 1994.
Substantive updates and changes of note include: Clarification of rules regarding private events and gatherings; clarification of rules regarding general and direct communications to Academy members; clarification of rules regarding public communications, including on social media.; clarification of rules for For Your Consideration screenings, Q&A sessions and panel discussions; and expanded language on regulation violations and penalties, including the process for reporting and reviewing a violation.
Submission deadlines and additional key dates are as follows:
Tuesday, Aug. 15: First submission deadline for the animated short film, documentary feature film, documentary short film and live action short film categories
Friday, Sept. 15: First submission deadline for the animated feature film and general entry categories
Monday, Oct. 2: Final submission deadline for the documentary feature film and international feature film categories
Monday, Oct. 16: Final submission deadline for the animated short film, documentary short film and live action short film categories
Wednesday, Nov. 1: Final submission deadline for the music (original score) and music (original song) categories
Wednesday, Nov. 15: Final submission deadline for the animated feature film and general entry categories
Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024: Visual effects nominating screening (bake-off)
Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024: Makeup and hairstyling nominating screening and sound nominating screening (bake-offs)
For the complete 96th Academy Awards rules and campaign promotional regulations, visit oscars.org/rules.
The 96th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 10, 2024, which is right in line with year’s show which aired on Sunday March 12. Jimmy Kimmel hosted for a third time.
The 2024 show will air again live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. That has been the Oscars’ home in all but one year since 2002. (The pandemic forced a move to Union Station in Los Angeles two years ago.)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences also announced key dates for the 2023 Oscar season. The Oscars are giving their accountants more time to count the votes than they did in years past. Winners will be announced 12 days after final-round voting closes (rather than five days, as in the past). Nominations will be announced seven days after nominations-round voting closes (again, rather than five days).
Academy key dates for the 2023 Oscar season are as follows:
General entry categories submission deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023
Governors Awards: Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023
Preliminary voting opens: Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023 at 9 a.m. PT
Preliminary voting closes: Monday, Dec. 18, 2023 at 5 p.m. PT
Oscar Shortlists Announcement: Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023
Eligibility period ends: Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023
Nominations voting opens: Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024 at 9 a.m. PT
Nominations voting closes: Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 at 5 p.m. PT
Oscar Nominations Announcement: Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024
Oscar Nominees Luncheon: Monday, Feb. 12, 2024
Finals voting opens: Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 9 a.m. PT
Scientific and Technical Awards: Friday, Feb. 23, 2024
Finals voting closes: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 5 p.m. PT
96th Oscars: Sunday, March 10, 2024
All dates for the 96th Academy Awards are subject to change.
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Disney is engaging the services of the award-winning musician and producer Questlove as a director for their upcoming film.
According to reports, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson has been picked by Walt Disney Studios to be the director for the live-action hybrid reimagining of their animated classic from 1970, The Aristocats. Questlove will also oversee the musical score of the film and serve as an executive producer through his Two One Five production company. His bandmate and co-founder of The Roots, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter will also be a producer of the film along with Shawn Gee and Zarah Zohlman.
The Aristocats follows a family of Parisian felines who learn that they’re about to inherit the fortune of their owner, a retired operatic diva. Her butler, who gets wind of the bequeathment, plots to get rid of the cats so he can get the fortune. The movie then follows the cats as they are befriended by an alley cat who works to help them get home. It would go on to be one of Disney’s more lucrative films at the time, earning $191 million at the box office.
This project will be the first feature film that Questlove will direct. The six-time Grammy Award-winner began his foray into film as a producer and director of the 2021 documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). The film, which unearthed the backstory of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It would go on a tear winning awards culminating in it winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2022. The win placed Questlove in rarified air as one of a few Black directors to win an Oscar–all of them in the documentary field.
The news comes as fans are eagerly anticipating Disney’s latest edition of their series reimagining their classic animated features with The Little Mermaid, featuring singer & actress Halle Bailey in the iconic role of Ariel and Melissa McCarthy portraying the villain, Ursula. Will Gluck and his production company, Olive Bridge, will also produce on the film in addition to writing the script along with Keith Bunin.
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Photo: Leon Bennett / Getty
Rihanna slayed at the 2023 Oscars on Sunday with a classy performance of her soulful ballad “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She didn’t win the Oscar for best original song – the award went to “Naatu Naatu” from RRR – but RiRi will likely have more chances to win for the song at next year’s Grammy Awards.
“Lift Me Up,” which Rihanna co-wrote with Tems, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson, is a front-runner for a nomination for best song written for visual media.
“Lift Me Up” could also wind up with record and/or song of the year nominations. Rihanna has been nominated for record of the year three times, for “Umbrella” (featuring Jay-Z), “Work” (featuring Drake) and as featured artist on Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie.”
If “Lift Me Up” is nominated for song of the year, it would mark Rihanna’s first nod in that category. Her only songwriting nods to date are for “Run This Town,” which won best rap song, and “Kiss It Better,” which was nominated for best R&B song.
“Lift Me Up” will also probably be nominated in a performance category – either best R&B performance or best traditional R&B performance. (The final decision on where to slot performances that seem to be on the border between two categories is made by a large screening committee. They base their decision on the sound of the performance, as they perceive it, not chart position or the artist’s image.)
Rihanna has been nominated in R&B performance categories twice, for “Needed Me” and “Hate That I Love You,” a 2007 collab with Ne-Yo. She has yet to be nominated for best traditional R&B performance.
“All the Stars,” from the first Black Panther, was nominated for Grammys in four categories (though it didn’t win in any of them). The smash by Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA was nominated for record and song of the year, best rap/sung performance and best song written for visual media.
The Recording Academy announced earlier this month that the eligibility year for the 66th annual Grammy Awards will end on Aug. 31, one month earlier than usual. So the eligibility “year” will consist of just 11 months.
Rihanna may or may not release her long-awaited ninth studio album by Aug. 31 – she has another “project” in the works just now – which would change the Grammy conversation around her. Rihanna’s best year at the Grammys in terms of nominations was 2016, when she amassed eight nods. (Alas, she lost them all.)
The early front-runners for record of the year nominations, in addition to “Lift Me Up,” include Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” SZA’s “Kill Bill” and Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers.”
This wouldn’t be the first time “Anti-Hero” and “Lift Me Up” have tangled. By holding at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week last November, Swift’s smash kept Rihanna’s ballad from debuting in the top spot and becoming her 15th No. 1 single. Instead, “Lift Me Up” debuted and peaked at No. 2. “Anti-Hero” went on to log eight total weeks at No. 1 – the record for a Swift single.