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The proposed academy's new prize met with resistance and was eventually tabled by the organization's board of governors.
John Bailey, President of the Academy of Arts and Film Science, participated Wednesday in a special meeting of the Board of Governors, ready to plead for the launch of a new Oscar that would recognize "the outstanding achievements of the popular film" . By the end of the event, the majority of 54 members voted for the award – at least for the awards season and the upcoming Oscars scheduled for February 24th.
When the Academy announced for the first time the creation of a popular prize last month without having defined the criteria that would determine exactly which films would be eligible, the idea, immediately dubbed "the popular Oscar", came up against to a wall of criticism.
"I did not expect this kind of reflex reaction, largely from journalists," says Bailey. "I do not know why this happened because they are the same people who also criticized the Academy for not appearing the quote, not to mention the taste of the people who go to the movies. The same people who criticized us for their irrelevance and elitism were suddenly the guardians of the door, speaking of the banalization of the Oscars. Many members of the Academy quickly took up these judgments.
The proposal, says Bailey, "has not met universal disdain, but it's still the defeatists who like to jump first."
As Bailey explains, he, along with Dawn Hudson, CEO of the Academy, was a big supporter of the move. Bailey, a director of photography, and his wife, film editor Carol Littleton, also a board member, both established their careers in the '70s and' 80s, working on inspired movies by the character. Ordinary people and The big thrill; she edited Body heat and Places in the heart – which were considered traditional entertainment. But they both watched the big studios abandon this kind of film, with the result that small independent films like Projector, Moonlight and The shape of the water – "all the beautiful films," he adds – eventually dominated the Oscar program, while mainstream productions supported by the studio had to be content with mentions among the nominations to the craft. Bailey says that the Academy must find a way to recognize "public viewing" films.
When the new price was announced, it was considered by many to be a failure, since last March's Oscar program attracted only 26.5 million viewers, a 19% drop from the previous year. 'last year. This decline has deeply troubled the ABC and the Academy, which rely on the network's approximately $ 75 million distribution fee to fund its operations.
But, says Bailey of Oscar's project of pop, "it was not an impulsive reaction to declining audiences or the ABC or something like that. The Council and the Academy have clearly understood that we have to somehow make some eligible films for new awards. He cites comedies as a type of film that the Academy has always neglected marmot day, that he also shot: "It's an iconic film, but if it were made today, it would probably never have been considered the best in terms of the type of photos taken into account but he certainly would have been a prime candidate for this new award. "He is also convinced that the price has not been offered to ensure that the films like Black Panther or one of Star wars movies are guaranteed at the Oscars. "Unfortunately, some people have misunderstood this as our pose pipe for mainstream mainstream franchise movies."
When the award was announced for the first time last month, neither Bailey nor Hudson intervened to explain the rationale for the proposal, refusing to comment until specific details were developed. . But this created an opening for critics of the popular Oscar, whose voices dominated the subsequent discussion.
Meanwhile, Bailey had two committees working on developing criteria for the new award. One was a special group of about two dozen members, comprised of members of the board of directors and key industry players, and the awards and events committee. of the Academy, chaired by makeup artist Lois Burwell, Board Member President. They looked at various statistics and options – one of the measures they chose was whether or not a film was open to wide distribution. Looking at last year's films, they estimated that out of about 340 Academy qualified films – which only requires a movie to play a theater in Los Angeles for a week – about 70 of them would have qualified for the popular Oscar. according to the criteria being developed.
Both committees presented their ideas at a special meeting of the Board of Governors at the Academy's headquarters in Beverly Hills on Wednesday. In addition to the questions regarding the criterion, some board members are also concerned about the timing of the introduction of the award. As a general rule, the Academy announces rule changes for the upcoming awards season in March, giving activists enough time to develop plans for next fall. But with the autumn season already starting, in Venice, Telluride and Toronto, many activists complained that the Academy introduced the price too late in the season for them to consider it. in their strategies. and budgeting.
"I'll say it, and I did not hide it at the board meeting," Bailey said. "I thought it was a good idea and I wanted to go ahead and present it in 2019." He also notes the irony of the situation, admitting: "If anyone on the council has an elitist taste, it's probably me." I prefer to watch a restored 1920s silent film made in Estonia or a six-part film hours on Bela Tarr as the latest Marvel movie.So if I can embrace the idea … "
But after some discussion, the majority of board members decided that the Academy needed more time to review the proposal and decided not to institute the award this year.
Bailey is not ready to predict if the famous Oscar will make his Oscar debut in 2020. "We will continue to evaluate it and seek more engagement with our members and try to address this problem," says -he. "What do I personally think will happen? I have no idea. But I am ready to say that I think it was admirable and even courageous on the part of the council to come to the idea of announcing it. After being placed in a position where the majority of the board members decided that it was not the time to do it, I do not know where it is.
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