Rumors are circulating about possible changes for the 2021 show – Deadline

Rumors are circulating about possible changes in the way nominees might accept their Oscars, if they have to appear in person, and if the show will be more like the Grammys who have toured in sets of different nominees for their categories rather than having all nominees seated for the whole show. Trades fall on top of each other with “exclusive” teases from possible movements from the producers of the Oscars, as well as a meeting tomorrow that informed the nominees of impending decisions that could directly affect their attendance. The deadline can certainly confirm that the latter is happening, even as the Academy has been saying ever since the first day of the pandemic (when they postponed the show for two months until its last date, April 25, in the hope of avoiding the difficult situation they find themselves in now. in) that the situation is “fluid”.

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Adding to these woes today, CDC director Rochelle Walensky warned of her feeling of ‘impending doom’ and said she ‘was afraid’ of a fourth outbreak following further surges in Covid testing positive in the United States. President Biden calls on states to reinstate mandatory mask-wearing requirements as variations and early loosening of restrictions spawn new waves of hotspots, already forcing new lockdowns in many European cities and others points of the world where an unusually large portion of this year’s Oscar nominees are currently located.

All of this is – or should – be a cause for concern for the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards, which will take place in a month’s time and which, as I reported last Wednesday and in my Notes on the Season column on Friday, has nominees. in various places. around the world nervous and confused about their participation in the show. On March 18, producers Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins sent a letter to all nominees advising them that there would be no Zoom option, as is the case with virtually all of the other awards from this season affected by the pandemic. Instead, the letter stated that the only way for a nominee to agree – at least on the show – would be to show up in person at Union Station, the spacious new venue AMPAS uses to ensure social distancing ( the Dolby Theater will be used for other elements of the show), a space they promise will follow strict Covid protocols, much like the extreme measures currently being taken on film and television sets.

I followed all of this by talking to the candidates themselves. Today in a Zoom conversation with Jasmila Žbanić, Oscar-nominated director of the Outstanding Bosnia and Herzegovina Best International Film Contender Quo Vadis, Aida ?, She has expressed her excitement about attending the Oscars in person, just as the producers are hoping it will happen, so it doesn’t look like another Zoom affair. She also openly revealed that she and her husband had learned sure On the day of the Oscar nomination, March 15, they had tested positive for Covid-19, but now, after two weeks in quarantine, she is thankfully at the end of that experience and looks and feels great, although it certainly led to a mixed message on the same day she learned she had been nominated for an Oscar for the first time. “We hope to arrive because we have to be quarantined for 10 days, so that means we have to start our trip in two weeks,” she said during a Sarajevo Zoom on the requirement of all travelers international entering the United States. “I have received a notice indicating that there is [an Academy] meeting tomorrow. On the one hand it’s a big effort [to travel to L.A.] but on the other hand ‘how can I miss this fun?'”

Two other nominees – in the major categories – that I spoke to over the weekend were also sympathetic to what it will be like to attend the Oscars. One, nominated in the acting categories, asked if there would be a mask requirement at the Oscars, but was told there were still meetings with the Academy and publicists to determine what kind of details. “I don’t know how to travel there to have my face half covered during the Oscars,” said this candidate while wondering if the Oscars, full of people from all over the world, could turn out to be an “event”. super spreader ”, and also the question of whether each candidate will need to be vaccinated (at least one of the two candidates I am referring to has confirmed that he has not yet received the vaccine). “Didn’t Soderbergh really make the movie Contagion? One joked, hoping the show was in expert hands because of it (Sher was also the producer of that 2011 prophetic fictional film about a global pandemic that started in China).

You can probably tell that with all of these types of conversations going on within the core audience group that made it possible to attend this year’s Oscars, give them and all of us a clarification as soon as possible is now essential for the Academy and its distribution partner ABC. It’s something they both take very seriously.

Stay tuned.