Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invites 842 people to join in 2019; half of them are women

July 1, 2019

by Carla Hay

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 842 people to join the group in 2019, and 50 percent of them are women and 28 percent are people of color. The Academy invited a record-high number of 928 people to join its membership in 2018. Of the 928 people invited to be new Academy members in 2018, 49 percent are women and 38 percent are people of color.

According to Variety, the Academy invited  774 new members in 2017, 683 new members in 2016 and 322 new members in 2015. Variety noted: “In 2015, people of color accounted for only 8 percent of the Academy body. In 2019, it stands at 16 percent, the Academy reported. As it stands, the Academy counts 8,946 active members, with 8,733 eligible to vote on the Oscars. The total membership including retired members is 9,794.”

Ever since the #OscarsSoWhite controversy in 2015 and 2016 (when all the Oscar nominees in the actor/actress categories were white) and criticisms over the lack of women who are nominated for Best Director, the Academy has publicly pledged to diversify its membership.  Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2019. New members will be welcomed into the Academy at invitation-only receptions in the fall.

Oscar winners on the invite list to join the Academy include “A Star Is Born” songwriters Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt; “Skyfall” songwriter Adele Adkins (whose stage name is Adele); “Free Solo” co-director Jimmy Chin; “Black Panther” composer Ludwig Goransson; “Birdman” producer John Lesher; “BlacKkKlansman” co-screenwriter Kevin Wilmott; and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” co-directors Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

There are also several Oscar nominees on the list, including “Vice” producer Kevin Messick; “The Favourite” film editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis; “The Favourite” costume designers Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton; “Mary Poppins Returns” songwriter Scott Wittman; and “Mirai” director Yuichiro Saito.

Some of the well-known actors and actresses who are on the invitation list include Sterling K. Brown, Gemma Chan, Winston Duke, Claire Foy, Jamie Bell, Tom Holland, Elisabeth Moss, Alexander Skarsgård and Letitia Wright.

Here is the complete list of the 842 people who have been invited to join the Academy in 2019:

(*) = Invited to join more than one branch of the Academy. The invitee must select only one branch to join when accepting membership.

(n) = Oscar nominee

(w) = Oscar winner

Actors
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje – “Suicide Squad,” “Trumbo”
Yareli Arizmendi – “A Day without a Mexican,” “Like Water for Chocolate”
Claes Bang – “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” “The Square”
Jamie Bell – “Rocketman,” “Billy Elliot”
Bob Bergen – “The Secret Life of Pets,” “WALL-E”
Bruno Bichir – “Crónica de un Desayuno,” “Principio y Fin”
Claire Bloom – “The King’s Speech,” “Limelight”
Héctor Bonilla – “7:19 La Hora del Temblor,” “Rojo Amanecer”
Juan Diego Botto – “Ismael,” “Vete de Mí”
Sterling K. Brown – “Black Panther,” “Marshall”
Gemma Chan – “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Mary Queen of Scots”
Rosalind Chao – “I Am Sam,” “The Joy Luck Club”
Camille Cottin – “Larguées,” “Allied”
Kenneth Cranham – “Maleficent,” “Layer Cake”
Marina de Tavira – “Roma” (n), “La Zona (The Zone)”
Stephen Dillane – “Darkest Hour,” “The Hours”
Winston Duke – “Us,” “Black Panther”
Jennifer Ehle – “A Quiet Passion,” “Zero Dark Thirty”
Irene Escolar – “Bajo la Piel de Lobo,” “Un Otoño sín Berlin”
Claire Foy – “First Man,” “Breathe”
Gina Gallego – “Minority Report,” “Erin Brockovich”
Giancarlo Giannini – “Quantum of Solace,” “Seven Beauties”
David Harewood – “Free in Deed,” “Blood Diamond”
Stephen McKinley Henderson – “Fences,” “Manchester by the Sea”
Dolores Heredia – “Huérfanos,” “A Better Life”
Tom Holland – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”
Tom Hollander – “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Pride & Prejudice”
Nina Hoss – “A Most Wanted Man,” “Barbara”
Lennie James – “Blade Runner 2049,” “Get On Up”
Gemma Jones – “Rocketman,” “Sense and Sensibility”
Barry Keoghan – “Dunkirk,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”
Anupam Kher – “Hotel Mumbai,” “The Big Sick”
Andreas Sebastian Koch – “Bridge of Spies,” “The Lives of Others”
Lady Gaga(*)“A Star Is Born” (n), “Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For”
Tracy Letts – “The Post,” “Lady Bird”
Damian Lewis – “Our Kind of Traitor,” “Dreamcatcher”
Helen McCrory – “Their Finest,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
Natascha McElhone – “Solaris,” “The Truman Show”
Ofelia Medina – “Innocent Voices,” “Frida: Naturaleza Viva”
Elisabeth Moss – “Us,” “The Square”
Peter Mullan – “Tyrannosaur,” “Trainspotting”
Jack O’Connell – “Unbroken,” “Starred Up”
Archie Panjabi – “A Mighty Heart,” “The Constant Gardener”
Amanda Peet – “The Way Way Back,” “Syriana”
Kevin Pollak – “The Front Runner,” “The Usual Suspects”
Will Poulter – “Detroit,” “The Revenant”
Andrea Riseborough – “Battle of the Sexes,” “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Toni Servillo – “The Great Beauty,” “La Ragazza del Lago”
Alexander Skarsgård – “The Legend of Tarzan,” “Melancholia”
Tamlyn Tomita – “The Day after Tomorrow,” “The Joy Luck Club”
Jean-Louis Trintignant – “Amour,” “Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train”
Carlo Verdone – “Manuale d’Amore,” “Borotalco”
Harriet Walter – “The Young Victoria,” “Atonement”
Olivia Williams – “An Education,” “The Sixth Sense”
Letitia Wright – “Black Panther,” “Ready Player One”
Yousra – “The Storm,” “Egyptian Story”

Casting Directors
Justine Arteta – “Battle of the Sexes,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Eyde Belasco – “Sorry to Bother You,” “(500) Days of Summer”
Jo Edna Boldin – “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” “Hell or High Water”
Nathalie Boutrie – “Mommy,” “Monsieur Lazhar”
Nathalie Cheron – “Lucy,” “La Femme Nikita”
Robin D. Cook – “The Shape of Water,” “Crimson Peak”
Alexa L. Fogel – “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” “Our Brand Is Crisis”
Celestia Fox – “The Remains of the Day,” “Howards End”
Rie Hedegaard – “Flame and Citron,” “The Celebration”
Irene Lamb – “Brazil,” “The Empire Strikes Back”
Don Phillips – “Dazed and Confused,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”
Lene Seested – “After the Wedding,” “Brothers”
Christi Soper Hilt – “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “The Boss Baby”

Cinematographers
Christopher Aoun – “Capernaum,” “Kalveli: Shadows of the Desert”
Vanja Černjul – “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Adult Beginners”
Carolina Costa – “Crystal Swan,” “They”
Svetlana Cvetko – “In Search of Greatness,” “Silicon Cowboys”
Autumn Durald Arkapaw – “The Sun Is Also a Star,” “Untogether”
Diego García – “Divino Amor,” “Our Time”
Hong Kyung-pyo – “Burning,” “Run Off”
Miguel Littin Menz – “Cabros de Mierda,” “Hands of Stone”
Zak Mulligan – “We the Animals,” “Bleeding Heart”
Sean Porter – “Green Book,” “Rough Night”
Joshua James Richards – “The Rider,” “God’s Own Country”
George Richmond – “Rocketman,” “Tomb Raider”
David Alex Riddett – “Early Man,” “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
Robbie Ryan – “The Favourite” (n),  “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)”
Akira Sako – “Ajin: Demi-Human,” “Shippu Rondo”
Giorgi Shvelidze – “Namme,” “Beri” Lyle Vincent – “Thoroughbreds,” “The Bad Batch”
Ari Wegner – “Stray,” “Lady Macbeth”

Costume Designers
Stacey Battat – “Gloria Bell,” “The Bling Ring”
Mimi Lempicka – “Au Revoir Là-Haut (See You Up There),” “Blanche”
Debra McGuire – “I Feel Pretty,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”
Antoinette Messam – “Superfly,” “Creed”
Lena Mossum – “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” “13 Roses”
Gaetano Speranza – “Stan & Ollie,” “Everest”
Aleksandra Staszko – “Cold War,” “Ida”
Julio Suárez – “Zama,” “The Headless Woman” Anna Terrazas – “Roma,” “Abel”

Production Designers
Michel Barthelemy – “The Sisters Brothers,” “Rust and Bone”
Hussein Baydoun – “Capernaum,” “The Insult”
Daniel Birt – “The Mummy,” “Chappie”
Silke Buhr – “Never Look Away,” “Who Am I”
Susan Burig – “Avengers: Infinity War,” “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water”
Charisse Cardenas – “American Sniper,” “The Lincoln Lawyer”
Stephen Cooper – “Hell or High Water,” “Patriots Day”
Chris Cornwell – “Ride Along,” “The Ides of March”
Fiona Crombie – “The Favourite” (n), “Macbeth”
Jann K. Engel – “Annabelle: Creation,” “The Big Short”
Bárbara Enríquez – “Roma,” “Resident Evil: Extinction”
Alice Felton – “The Favourite” (n), “Una”
Beauchamp Fontaine – “Nebraska,” “The Skeleton Key”
Bryony Foster – “Safe,” “Shanghai Noon”
Craig Foster – “Inside Out,” “Up”
Shepherd Frankel – “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “27 Dresses”
Vera Hamburguer – “Today (Hoje),” “Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum, o Filme”
Jeremy Hindle – “Detroit,” “Zero Dark Thirty”
Stephen J. Lineweaver – “Ted,” “Jerry Maguire”
Tamara Marini – “Spectre,” “Jumper”
Akiko Matsuba – “Shoplifters,” “Like Father, like Son”
Tom Miller – “Incredibles 2,” “Cars”
Desma Murphy – “Aquaman,” “Project X”
Cornelia Ott – “Jason Bourne,” “Valkyrie”
Julia Roeske – “Never Look Away,” “Womb”
Sebastian Schroeder – “Bumblebee,” “The Jane Austen Book Club”
David Edward Scott – “Captain America: Civil War,” “Tron: Legacy”
Fredda Slavin – “Violet & Daisy,” “Limitless”
Marcel Sławiński – “Cold War,” “The Mill & the Cross”
Katarzyna Sobańska Strzałkowska – “Cold War,” “In Darkness”
Emelia Weavind – “Queen of Katwe,” “District 9”

Directors
Zoya Akhtar – “Gully Boy,” “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”
Raja Amari – “Foreign Body,” “Les Secrets”
Jon Baird – “Stan & Ollie,” “Filth”
M. Neema Barnette – “Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day,” “Civil Brand”
Julie Bertuccelli – “Dernières Nouvelles du Cosmos,” “Since Otar Left…”
Laís Bodanzky – “Como Nossos Pais,” “Bicho de Sete Cabecas”
Zero Chou – “Ching’s Way Homes,” “Spider Lilies”
Jonathan M. Chu – “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Now You See Me 2”
Sergey Dvortsevoy – “Ayka,” “Tulpan” Pernille
Fischer Christensen – “Becoming Astrid,” “Someone You Love”
Lucía Gajá – “Batallas Intimas,” “Mi Vida Dentro”
Nisha Ganatra – “Late Night,” “Chutney Popcorn”
Matteo Garrone – “Dogman,” “Tale of Tales”
Will Gluck – “Peter Rabbit,” “Easy A”
Eva Husson – “Girls of the Sun,” “Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)”
Liza Johnson – “Elvis & Nixon,” “Return”
Tunde Kelani – “The Lion and the Jewel,” “The Narrow Path”
Jennifer Kent (*) – “The Nightingale,” “The Babadook”
Mélanie Laurent – “Galveston,” “Breathe”
Phil Lord (*) – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “21 Jump Street”
Alison Maclean – “The Rehearsal,” “Jesus’ Son”
Christopher Miller (*) – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “21 Jump Street”
Carol Morley – “Out of Blue,” “The Falling”
Ulrike Ottinger – “Under Snow,” “Twelve Chairs”
Gloria Rolando – “Dialogue with My Grandmother,” “1912: Breaking the Silence, Chapter 1“
Amr Salama – “Sheikh Jackson,” “Tahrir 2011”
Shamim Sarif – “Despite the Falling Snow,” “The World Unseen”
Ivan Sen – “Goldstone,” “Toomelah”
Maryse Sistach – “Moon Rain,” “The Girl on the Stone”
Frances-Anne Solomon – “Hero: Inspired by the Extraordinary Life and Times of Mr. Ulric Cross,” “Peggy Su!”
David E. Talbert – “Almost Christmas,” “First Sunday”
Yim Soon-rye – “Little Forest,” “Whistle Blower”
Jasmila Žbanić – “One Day in Sarajevo,” “Grbavica”

Documentary
Nancy Abraham – “Solitary,” “The Loving Story”
Khadija Al-Salami – “Yemen: Kids and War,” “Al Sarkha (Scream)”
Phie Ambo – “Free the Mind,” “Family”
Karim Amer – “The Great Hack,” “The Square” Isabel
Arrate Fernandez – “Return to Homs,” “Five Broken Cameras”
Kirstine Barfod – “Venus,” “Born to Lose”
Ruth Beckermann – “The Waldheim Waltz,” “East of War”
Jordana Berg – “The Edge of Democracy,” “The Mighty Spirit”
Doug Block – “The Children Next Door,” “Home Page”
Steven Bognar – “American Factory,” “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
Dallas Brennan Rexer – “No Woman, No Cry,” “Deadline”
Ditsi Carolino – “Hindered Land,” “Bunso”
Erin Casper – “Risk,” “American Promise”
Julian Cautherley – “Buena Vista Social Club: Adios,” “The Crash Reel”
Lori Cheatle – “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” “I Am Another You”
Jimmy Chin – “Free Solo” (w), “Meru”
Jonathan Chinn – “Black Sheep,” “LA 92”
Christopher Clements – “One Child Nation,” “Take Your Pills”
Davis Coombe – “Chasing Coral,” “Saving Face”
Ben Cotner – “13th,” “The Case Against 8”
Brenda Coughlin – “Risk,” “Dirty Wars”
Linda Davis – “The Kill Team,” “The Waiting Room”
Talal Derki – “Of Fathers and Sons” (n), “Return to Homs”
Jessica Devaney – “The Feeling of Being Watched,” “Speed Sisters”
Katja Dringenberg – “The Congo Tribunal,” “Black Box BRD”
Anne Fabini* – “Return to Homs,” “More than Honey”
Penelope Falk – “Step,” “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work”
Drew Fellman – “Pandas,” “Island of Lemurs: Madagascar”
Skye Fitzgerald – “Lifeboat” (n), “Finding Face”
Josh Fox – “Awake, a Dream from Standing Rock,” “Gasland”
Ansgar Frerich – “Let the Bell Ring,” “Of Fathers and Sons”
Laura Gabbert – “City of Gold,” “Sunset Story”
Jannat C. Gargi – “Knife Skills,” “Circo”
Maureen Gosling – “Blossoms of Fire,” “Burden of Dreams”
Roberta Grossman – “Seeing Allred,” “Above and Beyond”
Ryan Harrington – “Sea of Shadows,” “A Place at the Table”
Mette Heide – “Amanda Knox,” “Rafea: Solar Mama”
Lisa Heller – “Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland,” “Saving Face”
Carolyn Hepburn – “One Child Nation,” “3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets”
Lee Hirsch – “Bully,” “Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony”
Hong Hyung-sook – “The Border City 2,” “Reclaiming Our Names”
Chiemi Karasawa – “Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me,” “Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction”
Eva Kemme – “Of Fathers and Sons” (n), “Taste of Cement”
Stephen Kijak – “We Are X,” “Stones in Exile”
Su Kim – “Midnight Traveler,” “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” (n)
Alison Klayman – “The Brink,” “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry”
Karen Konicek – “Monrovia, Indiana,” “Ex Libris – The New York Public Library”
Jan Krawitz – “Perfect Strangers,” “Big Enough”
Sabine Krayenbühl – “The Price of Everything,” “Mad Hot Ballroom”
Susan Lacy – “Jane Fonda in Five Acts,” “Inventing David Geffen”
Beth Levison – “32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide,” “The Trials of Spring”
Mor Loushy – “The Oslo Diaries,” “Censored Voices”
Carrie Lozano – “The Ballad of Fred Hersch,” “The Weather Underground”
Ma Li – “Inmates,” “Born in Beijing”
Leah Marino – “Motherland,” “Imelda”
Rafael Marmor – “Mike Wallace Is Here,” “The Short Game”
Gesa Marten – “Shot in the Dark,” “Lost in Liberia”
Yael Melamede – “(Dis)Honesty – The Truth about Lies,” “Desert Runners”
Noé Mendelle – “Woman in Sari,” “State of the World”
Muffie Meyer – “Making Rounds,” “Grey Gardens”
Bryn Mooser – “Lifeboat” (n), “Body Team 12”
Eva Mulvad – “The Good Life,” “Enemies of Happiness”
Alysa Nahmias – “Unrest,” “Unfinished Spaces”
Andrea Blaugrund Nevins – “Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie,” “Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies”
Christine O’Malley – “If You Build It,” “I.O.U.S.A.”
Martha Orozco – “Nueva Venecia,” “Drought,”
Ferne Pearlstein – “The Last Laugh,” “Imelda”
Per Kirkegaard Pedersen – “That Summer,” “Armadillo”
PJ Raval – “Call Her Ganda,” “Before You Know It”
Kimberly Reed – “Dark Money,” “Prodigal Sons”
Stacey Reiss – “The Eagle Huntress,” “The Diplomat”
Melissa Robledo – “Command and Control,” “Merchants of Doubt”
Susan Rockefeller – “Food for Thought, Food for Life,” “Making the Crooked Straight”
Vanessa Roth – “American Teacher,” “Freeheld”
Marjan Safinia – “Seeds,” “But You Speak Such Good English”
Courtney Sexton – “Apollo 11,” “Three Identical Strangers”
Avner Shahaf – “The Oslo Diaries,” “The Gatekeepers”
Alexandra Shiva – “This Is Home: A Refugee Story, “ “How to Dance in Ohio”
Tobias N. Siebert – “Of Fathers and Sons” (n), “The Story of the Weeping Camel”
Karen Sim – “Watchers of the Sky,” “Back on Board: Greg Louganis”
Claire Simon – “Young Solitude,” “Human Geography”
Sara Stockmann – “Bobbi Jene,” “Armadillo”
Helena Třeštíková – “A Marriage Story,” “Marcela”
Matt Tyrnauer – “Studio 54,” “Valentino The Last Emperor”
Lindsay Utz – “American Factory,” “Quest”
Lisa Valencia-Svensson – “Call Her Ganda,” “Herman’s House”
Aliona van der Horst – “Love Is Potatoes,” “Boris Ryzhy”
Baby Ruth Villarama – “Sunday Beauty Queen,” “Jazz in Love”
Miao Wang – “Maineland,” “Beijing Taxi”
Stephanie Wang-Breal – “Blowin’ Up,” “Tough Love”
M. Watanabe Milmore – “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” “Revelations: Paradise Lost 2”
William Weber – “To Be Takei,” “We Were Here”
Ryan White – “Ask Dr. Ruth,” “The Case Against 8”
Michelle M. Witten – “Generation Wealth,” “Author: The JT LeRoy Story”
Matt Wolf – “Bayard & Me,” “Teenage”
Hao Wu – “People’s Republic of Desire,” “The Road to Fame”
Tom Yellin – “Cartel Land,” “Girl Rising”
Farihah Zaman – “Remote Area Medical,” “This Time Next Year”

Executives
Richard Abramowitz
Edward Allen
Spring Aspers
Steve Bertram
Neal Block
Gail Blumenthal
Gabriel Brakin
Matthew Evan Brodlie
Ben Browning
Lisa Bunnell
Andres Calderon
Jean Chi
Marjorie Cohn
Tim Collins
Shakim Compere
Tyler Dinapoli
Sidonie Dumas
Jesse Ehrman
Scott Forman
Greg Forston
Margaret French-Isaac
Cindy Gardner
Michele Halberstadt
Kiska Higgs
Jennifer Hollingsworth
Leah Holzer
Mike Jackson
Jonathan Kadin
Ken Kao
Laine R. Kline
Eric Lagesse
Cassidy Lange
Patricia Louise Laucella
Ivana Lombardi
Jillian Longnecker
Richard Lorber
Funa Maduka
Alana Mayo
Howard Meyers
Andrea M. Miloro
Meredith Milton
Tom Molter
Lumumba M. Mosquera
Chantal Nong
Megan O’Brien
Jun Oh
Dana O’Keefe
Marisa Michele Paiva
Linda Pan
Nicola Pearcey
Julie Rapaport
Betsy Rodgers
Adam Rosenberg
Michael Schaefer
Georges Schoucair
Sara Scott
Beatriz Sequeira
Meyer Shwarzstein
Molly Smith
Kimberly Steward
Shelby Stone
Syrinthia Studer
Niels Swinkels
Cathleen Taff
Winnie Tsang
John Vanco
Samantha Vincent
Robert Walak
Ty Warren
Brad Weston
Cami Sarah Winikoff
Christa Zofcin Workman

Film Editors
Michel Aller – “Shazam!,” “The Nun”
Joshua Altman – “Minding the Gap,” “The Price of Free”
John Axelrad – “The Lost City of Z,” “Crazy Heart”
Alexander Berner – “Alien vs. Predator,” “Resident Evil”
Edgar Burcksen – “100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice,” “A New York Heartbeat”
Lee Chatametikool – “Malila: The Farewell Flower,” “Pop Aye”
Dany Cooper – “Measure of a Man,” “The Sapphires”
Peter Elliot – “Shaft,” “Think like a Man”
Anne Fabini* – “Of Fathers and Sons,” “Return to Homs”
Robert Fisher, Jr. – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
Teresa Font – “Pain & Glory,” “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”
Laure Gardette – “Capernaum,” “Polisse”
François Gédigier – “Alone in Berlin,” “Yves Saint Laurent”
Terel Gibson – “Sorry to Bother You,” “The Ballad of Lefty Brown”
Eddie Hamilton – “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”
Julia Juaniz – “Finding Steve McQueen,” “Black Butterfly”
Mako Kamitsuna – “Mudbound,” “Blackhat”
Kim Hyun – “Burning,” “Poetry”
Kim Jae-beom – “The Battleship Island,” “The Handmaiden”
Kim Sang-beom – “Rampant,” “The Handmaiden”
Guy Lecorne – “High Life,” “Let the Sunshine In”
Petar Marković – “Ayka,” “Tulpan”
Yorgos Mavropsaridis – “The Favourite” (n), “The Lobster”
Anne McCabe – “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” “Dirty Grandpa”
Kirk Morri – “Aquaman,” “The Conjuring”
Shigeru Nishiyama – “Mirai,” “The Boy and the Beast”
Nacho Ruiz Capillas – “Twelve-Year Night,” “The Others”
Marco Spoletini – “Dogman,” “The Wonders”
Károly Szalai – “On Body and Soul,” “Spy Master”
John Venzon – “The Lego Batman Movie,” “Storks”
Justine Wright – “The Iron Lady,” “The Last King of Scotland”

Makeup Artists & Hairstylists
Robin Beauchesne – “The Lone Ranger,” “The Way Back”
Tym Shutchai Buacharern – “Black Panther,” “Dreamgirls”
Joseph A. Campayno – “Limitless,” “Unfaithful”
Rosalina Da Silva – “X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Watchmen”
Sterfon Demings – “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” “Milk”
Manolo García – “Suspiria,” “The Sea Inside”
Pamela Goldammer – “Border” (n), “The Hallow”
Sylvie Imbert – “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” “Blancanieves”
Jamie Kelman – “Vice,” “Looper”
Nicki Ledermann – “The Greatest Showman,” “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Ana López-Puigcerver – “Julieta,” “The Others”
Göran Lundström – “Border” (n), “Passion”
Sharon Martin – “Half of a Yellow Sun,” “Snow White and the Huntsman”
Jane O’Kane – “Adrift,” “Ghost in the Shell”
Kyra Panchenko – “Trainwreck,” “A Most Violent Year”
Marc Pilcher – “Mary Queen of Scots” (n), “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”
Christina Roesler-Kerwin – “Bumblebee,” “End of Watch”
Sarah Rubano – “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” “District 9”
Lucy Sibbick – “Darkest Hour,” “Tulip Fever”
Ivo Strangmüller – “Never Look Away,” “A Royal Affair”
Mitsuyo Takasaki – “Silence,” “Kakekomi”
Jay Wejebe – “Red Sparrow,” “Interstellar”
Josh Weston – “Stan & Ollie,” “Suspiria”
Gigi Williams – “Inherent Vice,” “Gone Girl”

Music
Michael Abels – “Us,” “Get Out”
Adele Adkins – “Skyfall” (w)
Nathan Barr – “The House with a Clock in Its Walls,” “The Last Exorcism”
Kris Bowers – “Green Book,” “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You”
Missy Cohen – “Hold the Dark,” “The Informant!”
Jane Antonia Cornish – “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood,” “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City”
John Finklea – “Vice,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
Annette Focks – “Ostwind,” “Krabat”
Richard Ford – “Downsizing,” “Hidden Figures”
Ludwig Goransson – “Black Panther” (w), “Creed”
Rupert Gregson-Williams – “Aquaman,” “Hacksaw Ridge”
Hildur Guðnadóttir – “Mary Magdalene,” “Sicario: Day of the Soldado”
Jed Kurzel – “The Mustang,” “The Babadook”
Lady Gaga (*) – “A Star Is Born” (w), “The Hunting Ground”
Bryan Lawson – “Robin Hood,” “Suicide Squad”
Annie Lennox – “A Private War,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
Peter Stephen Myles – “Jason Bourne,” “Pacific Rim”
Anne Nikitin – “American Animals,” “The Imposter”
Heitor Teixeira Pereira – “Smallfoot,” “Real Women Have Curves”
Arthur Pingrey – “Jim: The James Foley Story,” “Racing Extinction”
Mark Ronson – “A Star Is Born” (w),  “Quincy”
Jason Ruder – “A Star Is Born,” “La La Land”
Roxanne Joy Seeman – “Get on the Bus,” “Little Monsters”
John Charles Edward Swihart – “The Education of Charlie Banks,” “Napoleon Dynamite”
Sherry Whitfield – “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” “Easy A”
Robin Whittaker – “The House with a Clock in Its Walls,” “Amy”
Scott Wittman – “Mary Poppins Returns” (n), “When Harry Met Sally”
Andrew Wyatt – “A Star Is Born” (w), “Music and Lyrics”

Producers
Mollye Asher – “The Rider,” “Fort Tilden”
Stefanie Azpiazu – “Private Life,” “Enough Said”
Lucy Barreto – “Reaching for the Moon,” “Bossa Nova”
Luiz Carlos Barreto – “João, o Maestro,” “The Middle of the World”
Jess Wu Calder – “Blindspotting,” “Blair Witch”
Francesca Cima – “Youth,” “The Great Beauty”
Naomi Despres – “Lizzie,” “Kill the Messenger”
Neal Dodson – “A Most Violent Year,” “All Is Lost”
Benjamín Domenech – “Zama,” “Acusada (The Accused)”
Gail Egan – “Final Portrait,” “A Most Wanted Man”
Helen Estabrook – “Tully,” “Whiplash”
Santiago Gallelli – “Zama,” “Acusada (The Accused)”
Rebecca Green – “It Follows,” I’ll See You in My Dreams”
Dolly Hall – “The Maid’s Room,” “High Art”
Osnat Handelsman-Keren – “The Kindergarten Teacher,” “Bethlehem”
Debra Hayward – “Mary Queen of Scots,” “Les Misérables”
Mohamed Hefzy – “Sheikh Jackson,” “Clash”
David Hinojosa – “First Reformed,” “Beatriz at Dinner”
Cristina Huete – “The Queen of Spain,” “Chico & Rita”
Janine Jackowski – “Toni Erdmann,” “The Forest for the Trees”
Talia Kleinhendler – “The Kindergarten Teacher,” “Bethlehem”
Vincent Landay – “Her” (n), “Adaptation”
Stephanie Langhoff – “The Skeleton Twins,” “Safety Not Guaranteed”
John Lesher – “Black Mass,” “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” (w)
Georgina Lowe – “Peterloo,” “Mr. Turner”
Scott Macaulay – “Casting JonBenet,” “Raising Victor Vargas”
Riva Marker – “Wildlife,” “Beasts of No Nation”
Kevin Messick – “Vice” (n), “Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters”
Donatella Palermo – “Fire at Sea,” “Wondrous Boccaccio”
Ewa Puszczyńska – “Cold War” (n), “Ida”
Andrea Cecilia Roa – “It Comes at Night,” “Unexpected”
Matías Roveda – “Zama,” “Acusada (The Accused)”
Michael Sean Ryan – “Last Weekend,” “Junebug”
Tanya Seghatchian – “Cold War” (n), “My Summer of Love”
Brad Simpson – “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Ben Is Back”
Deborah Snyder – “Wonder Woman,” “Man of Steel”
Richard Suckle – “Wonder Woman,” “American Hustle”
Emma Tillinger Koskoff – “Silence,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Anne-Dominique Toussaint – “Where Do We Go Now?,” “Caramel”
Liz Watts – “The Rover,” “Animal Kingdom”
Charles B. Wessler – “Green Book,” “There’s Something about Mary”
James Whitaker – “A Wrinkle in Time,” “The Finest Hours”

Public Relations
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Annett Wolf
Paula Woods
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Short Films and Feature Animation
Mikhail Aldashin – “Gora Samotsvetov,” “Bukashki”
Gil Alkabetz – “Morir de Amor,” “Rubicon”
María del Puy Alvarado – “Mother,” “Pulse”
Julius Amedume – “Mr. Graham,” “Mary & John”
Cyril Aris – “The President’s Visit,” “Siham”
Louise Bagnall – “Late Afternoon” (n), “Donkey”
Josh Beveridge – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (w), “Storks”
Rodrigo Blaas – “La Luna,” “Alma”
Steve Bloom – “Coco”  “One Man Band”
Neil Boyle – “Sherlock Gnomes,” “The Last Belle”
Suzanne Buirgy – “Home,” “Kung Fu Panda 2”
Jim Capobianco – “Mary Poppins Returns,” “Ratatouille”
Andrew Carlberg – “Skin” (w),  “The Blazing World”
Andrew Chesworth – “One Small Step” (n), “Juiced and Jazzed”
Jeremy Comte – “Fauve” (n), “What Remains”
Manuel Cristóbal – “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles,” “Arrugas (Wrinkles)”
Erika Dean Dapkewicz – “Puss in Boots,” “Monsters vs Aliens”
Patrick Delage – “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” “Sing”
Jonathan Del Val – “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” “The Secret Life of Pets”
Jean de Meuron – “Blood Brothers,” “La Femme et le TGV”
Celine Desrumaux – “Age of Sail,” “The Little Prince”
Emma De Swaef – “This Magnificent Cake!,” “Oh Willy…”
Danny Dimian – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” “The Angry Birds Movie”
Piotr Dumala – “Forest,” “Crime and Punishment”
Nash Dunnigan – “The Peanuts Movie,” “Ice Age Continental Drift”
Ron Dyens – “Tram,” “Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage”
Jérémie Fajner – “White Fang,” “Song of the Sea”
Marianne Farley – “Marguerite” (n), “Saccage (Ransack)”
Abi Feijó – “Uncle Thomas, Accounting for the Days,” “Kali the Little Vampire”
Jeff Gabor – “Ice Age: Collision Course,” “Epic”
Sari Gennis – “James and the Giant Peach,” “Ferngully: The Last Rainforest”
Nuria González Blanco – “Late Afternoon” (n), “Violet”
Maria Gracia Turgeon – “Fauve” (n), “What Remains”
Trisha Gum – “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” “The Lego Batman Movie”
Jennifer Hager – “Zootopia,” “Moana”
Karl Edward Herbst – “Smallfoot,” “Hotel Transylvania 2”
Jeffrey Hermann – “Bilby,” “Bird Karma”
Julian Higgins – “Winter Light,” “Here and Now”
Andreas Hykade – “Love & Theft,” “Ring of Fire”
Trevor Jimenez – “Weekends,” “Key Lime Pie”
Kevin J. Johnson – “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” “Astro Boy”
Joung Yumi – “Love Games,” “Dust Kid”
Sandy Yun-Shan Kao – “Trolls,” “Shrek Forever After”
Anurag Kashyap – “Madly,” “Bombay Talkies”
Mara Kassin – “Ladies Lounge,” “Curfew”
William Kentridge – “The Refusal of Time,” “Felix in Exile”
Aleksandra Korejwo – “The Swan,” “Carmen Torero”
Igor Kovalyov – “Milch (Milk),” “Flying Nansen”
Raimund Krumme – “Passage,” “Crossroads”
Jerzy Kucia – “Fugue for Cello, Trumpet and Landscape,” “Reflections”
Antoneta Kusijanovic – “Into the Blue,” “Eye for an Eye”
Vincent Lambe – “Detainment,” “Broken Things”
Brian Larsen – “Piper,” “Brave”
Brian Leach – “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Zootopia”
Matthias Lechner – “Zootopia,” “Escape from Planet Earth”
Kira Lehtomaki – “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Zootopia”
Patrick Lin – “Toy Story 4,” “Inside Out”
Julie Lockhart – “Shaun the Sheep Movie,” “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”
Rocio Lopez Ortiz – “Dear Chickens,” “Fingerplay”
Phil Lord (*) – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (w), “21 Jump Street”
Joanna Lurie – “Flowing through Wonder,” “The Silence beneath the Bark”
Christopher Miller (*) – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (w), “21 Jump Street”
Nijla Mu’min – “Dream,” “Two Bodies”
Rani Naamani – “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “The Boss Baby”
Takashi Nakamura – “Harmony,” “A Tree of Palme”
Terence Nance – “Univitellin,” “Swimming in Your Skin Again”
Guy Nattiv – “Skin” (w), “Dear God”
Victor Navone – “Inside Out,” “Cars 2”
Damian Nenow – “Another Day of Life,” “Paths of Hate”
Diane Obomsawin – “I Like Girls,” “Kaspar”
David O’Reilly – “The External World,” “Please Say Something”
Mamoru Oshii – “The Sky Crawlers,” “Ghost in the Shell”
Katsuhiro Otomo – “Steamboy,” “Akira”
Marie-Hélène Panisset – “Marguerite” (n), “The Last Round”
Bob Persichetti – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (w), “The Little Prince”
Malcon Pierce – “Moana,” “Frozen”
Bobby Pontillas – “One Small Step” (n), “Moana”
Qiu Yang – “A Gentle Night,” “Under the Sun”
Bonne Radford – “Smallfoot,” “The Road to El Dorado”
Andrew Rosen – “The Breadwinner,” “Todd & the Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End”
Rodney Rothman (*) – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (w)
Rick Rothschild – “Flyover America,” “Captain Eo”
James Ryan – “The Boss Baby,” “Turbo”
Yuichiro Saito – “Mirai” (n),  “The Boy and the Beast”
Jason Schleifer – “The Boss Baby,” “Megamind”
Alex Schwartz – “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “How to Train Your Dragon”
Chad Sellers – “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure,” “Zootopia”
Domee Shi – “Bao” (n), “Inside Out”
Gerry Shirren – “Song of the Sea,” “Carnivale”
Lynn Smith – “Soup of the Day,” “Pearl’s Diner”
Marc Smith – “Big Hero 6,” “Treasure Planet”
Erik Smitt – “Incredibles 2,” “Piper”
Julien Soret – “Despicable Me 3,” “The Secret Life of Pets”
Rodrigo Sorogoyen – “Mother,” “El Iluso”
Olivier Staphylas – “Penguins of Madagascar,” “Puss in Boots”
Christina Steinberg – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Rise of the Guardians”
Jackie J. Stone – “Burning Angel Dust,” “If I Leap”
Bin-Han To – “Revolting Rhymes,” “The Princess, the Prince and the Green-Eyed Dragon”
David Torres – “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “Megamind”
Josie Trinidad – “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Zootopia”
Jeffrey Turley – “Mary Poppins Returns,” “Feast”
Dominique Welinski – “See Factory,” “Tunisia Factory”
Dean Wellins – “Tick Tock Tale,” “The Iron Giant”
Kevin H. Wilson, Jr. – “My Nephew Emmett,” “Crimson on the Tobacco Road”
Catherine Winder – “The Angry Birds Movie,” “Escape from Planet Earth”
Lauren Wolkstein – “The Strange Ones,” “Cigarette Candy”
Steven Woloshen – “Casino,” “Snip”
Shaofu Zhang – “One Small Step,” “Dragonboy”

Sound
Kami Asgar – “Zombieland,” “Apocalypto”
Peter Brown – “Aquaman,” “Star Trek Beyond”
Paul Davies – “A Private War,” “The Queen”
Bill R. Dean – “Shazam!,” “All Eyez on Me”
Nicky de Beer – “The Journey Is the Destination,” “Cry, the Beloved Country”
Sergio Díaz – “Roma” (n), “Desierto”
Gillian Dodders – “Annihilation,” “Ex Machina”
Daniel Hambrook – “Stan & Ollie,” “Atonement”
Justin Herman Martin Jacob Lopez – “Insidious: The Last Key,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”
Jon Michaels – “Game Night,” “Geostorm”
David Miranda – “Batman Returns,” “Point Break”
Branka Mrkic-Tana – “American Made,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
Brandon Proctor – “Black Panther,” “A Quiet Place”
Kira Lynn Roessler – “A Star Is Born,” “Aquaman”
Brian Saunders – “Captain Marvel,” “Gorillas in the Mist”
Mac Smith – “The Game Changers,” “The Birth of a Nation”
Carlos Solis – “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1“
Oriol Tarragó – “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “A Monster Calls”
Damian Grady Volpe – “Mudbound,” “Drive”
Trevor Ward – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1“
John Warhurst – “Bohemian Rhapsody” (w), “Les Misérables”

Visual Effects
Christian M. Alzmann – “Ready Player One,” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”
Randall Balsmeyer – “BlacKkKlansman,” “Drawing Home”
Johnathan R. Banta – “Dumb and Dumber To”
Lyndon Barrois – “R.I.P.D.,” “Sucker Punch”
Sherry Bharda – “Hichki,” “Sui Dhaaga: Made in India”
Abigail Brady Gaia Bussolati – “Il Campione,” “Il Primo Re (Romulus & Remus: The First King)”
Danny Cangemi – “Act of Valor,” “The Other Guys”
Francois Chardavoine Kathy Chasen-Hay – “John Wick: Chapter 2,” “Saban’s Power Rangers”
Frazer Churchill – “The Kid Who Would Be King,” “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”
Alessandro Cioffi – “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Thor: Ragnarok”
James Clyne – “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Grady Cofer – “Us,” “Ready Player One” (n)
Brian Connor – “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” “The Meg”
Jay Andrew Cooper – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story”
Elizabeth Ellen D’Amato – “Jurassic World,” “Lucy”
Enrico Damm – “A Quiet Place,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
Lorelei David – “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “Avengers: Infinity War”
Sean Devereaux – “The Equalizer 2,” “The Spy Who Dumped Me”
Michael Eames – “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Christopher Robin” (n)
Laurens Ehrmann – “The Guardians,” “Beautiful Accident”
Shannon Blake Gans
Diana Giorgiutti – “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Ant-Man”
Terry Glass – “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”
Aleksandr Gorokhov – “Searching,” “Three Seconds”
Caroleen Green – “Rock Dog,” “The Book of Life”
Francesco Grisi – “Il Campione,” “Il Primo Re (Romulus & Remus: The First King)”
Christian Guillon – “The Love Punch,” “Oceans”
Jessica Harris – “Black Panther,” “The Meg”
Jeremy Hattingh – “Escape Room,” “The Brothers Grimsby”
Claas Henke – “Aquaman,” “Black Panther”
Samir Hoon – “Bumblebee,” “Monster Hunt 2”
Joni Jacobson – “Saban’s Power Rangers,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny”
Kevin Ellis Jenkins – “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Theo Jones – “Christopher Robin,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”
Lee Jeon-hyeong – “7 Years of Night,” “Intimate Strangers”
Christian Manz – “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
Ed Marsh – “Shazam!,” “A Star Is Born”
Thomas Martinek Michael Melchiorre – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avengers: Infinity War”
David William Meny – “Warcraft,” “Pacific Rim”
Luke Millar – “Mortal Engines,” “War for the Planet of the Apes”
Srinivas Mohan – “2.0,” “Baahubali: The Beginning”
Harry Mukhopadhyay – “Captain Marvel,” “Justice League”
Tristan Myles – “First Man,” “Blade Runner 2049”
Sergei Nevshupov – “Mortal Engines,” “Spacewalk”
Helen Newby – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avengers: Infinity War”
Park Young-soo – “Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings,” “Mulgoe (Monstrum)”
Pavani Rao Boddapati – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “The BFG”
Mark Rappaport
Lesley Robson-Foster – “High Flying Bird,” “I Think We’re Alone Now”
Steve Rosenbluth
Ryo Sakaguchi – “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “The Meg”
Christoph Salzmann – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “War for the Planet of the Apes”
Robert Smith – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Captain Marvel”
Kevin Sprout – “Ready Player One,” “Deepwater Horizon”
Jeffrey Allan Sutherland – “Bumblebee,” “Monsters and Men”
Sebastian Sylwan
Charles Tait – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Avengers: Infinity War”
William Gregory Teegarden – “Avengers: Infinity War,” “The Fate of the Furious”
Dominic Tuohy – “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “The Mummy”
Alexander Vegh – “Shazam!,” “A.X.L.”
Bill Watral – “Incredibles 2,” “Sanjay’s Super Team”
Arman Yahin – “Ded Moroz. Bitva Magov,” “The Duelist”
Yee Kwok-Leung – “The Leakers,” “Shock Wave”

Writers
John Ajvide Lindqvist – “Border,” “Let the Right One In”
Desiree Akhavan – “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” “Appropriate Behavior”
Marie Amachoukeli – “Savage,” “Young Tiger”
David Arata – “Children of Men,” “Spy Game”
Jean-Pierre Bacri – “Place Publique,” “Look at Me”
Josiane Balasko – “The Ex-Love of My Life,” “French Twist”
Sophie Barthes – “Madame Bovary,” “Cold Souls”
Ritesh Batra – “Photograph,” “The Lunchbox”
Houda Benyamina – “Divines”
Anna Biller – “The Love Witch,” “Viva”
Pamela Brady – “Team America: World Police,” “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut”
Andrew Bujalski – “Support the Girls,” “Computer Chess”
Kay Cannon – “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Pitch Perfect”
Elizabeth Chandler – “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” “A Little Princess”
Chinonye Chukwu – “Clemency,” “Alaskaland”
Sara Colangelo – “The Kindergarten Teacher,” “Little Accidents”
Roman Coppola – “Isle of Dogs,” “Moonrise Kingdom”
Lucinda Coxon – “The Little Stranger,” “The Danish Girl”
Karen Croner – “The Tribes of Palos Verdes,” “Admission”
Josephine Decker – “Madeline’s Madeline,” “Flames”
Agnès de Sacy – “The Summer House,” “Yao”
Katherine Dieckmann – “Strange Weather,” “Motherhood”
Doris Dörrie – “Cherry Blossoms,” “Men…”
Harry Elfont – “Leap Year,” “Made of Honor”
Glenn Ficarra – “Smallfoot,” “Bad Santa”
Gillian Flynn – “Widows,” “Gone Girl”
Dana Fox – “Isn’t It Romantic,” “Couples Retreat”
Víctor Gaviria – “The Animal’s Wife,” “The Rose Seller”
Holly Goldberg Sloan – “Angels in the Outfield,” “Made in America”
Jane Goldman – “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”
Andrew Haigh – “45 Years,” “Weekend”
Elizabeth Hannah – “Long Shot,” “The Post”
Phil Hay – “Destroyer,” “Ride Along”
Olivia Hetreed – “Birds like Us,” “Wuthering Heights”
Eliza Hittman – “Beach Rats,” “It Felt like Love”
Christina Hodson – “Bumblebee,” “Unforgettable”
Jihad Hojeily – “Capernaum,” “Where Do We Go Now?”
Rick Jaffa – “Jurassic World,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Agnès Jaoui – “Place Publique,” “Look at Me”
Deborah Kaplan – “Leap Year,” “Can’t Hardly Wait”
Jennifer Kent* – “The Nightingale,” “The Babadook”
Cédric Klapisch – “Back to Burgundy,” “L’Auberge Espagnole”
Kate Lanier – “Beauty Shop,” “Glitter”
Phil Lord* – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “21 Jump Street”
Jenny Lumet – “The Mummy,” “Rachel Getting Married”
Maïwenn – “My King,” “Polisse”
Matt Manfredi – “Destroyer,” “Clash of the Titans”
Jim McKay – “En el Séptimo Día,” “Girls Town”
Christopher Miller* – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “21 Jump Street”
Deborah Moggach – “Tulip Fever,” “Pride & Prejudice”
Jessie Nelson – “I Am Sam,” “Stepmom”
Marti Noxon – “Fright Night,” “I Am Number Four”
Rungano Nyoni – “I Am Not a Witch” Tracy Oliver – “The Sun Is Also a Star,” “Girls Trip”
Diana Lynn Ossana – “Brokeback Mountain” (w)
Gail Parent – “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen,” “Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York”
Zak Penn – “Ready Player One,” “The Incredible Hulk”
Katell Quillévéré – “Alone at My Wedding,” “Love like Poison”
John Requa – “Smallfoot,” “I Love You Phillip Morris”
Pamela Ribon – “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Smurfs: The Lost Village”
Rodney Rothman* – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “22 Jump Street”
Valeria Sarmiento – “Elle,” “Our Marriage”
Coline Serreau – “Chaos,” “Think Global, Act Rural”
Sebastián Silva – “Tyrel, ”Magic Magic”
Amanda Silver – “Jurassic World,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Marina Stavenhagen – “Have You Seen Lupita?,” “Streeters”
Maryam Touzani – “Adam,” “Razzia”
Juliette Towhidi – “Testament of Youth,” “Love, Rosie”
Patrick Wang – “The Grief of Others,” “In the Family”
Wang Quan’an – “White Deer Plain,” “Apart Together”
Kevin Willmott – “BlacKkKlansman” (w),  “Chi-Raq”

Members-at-Large
Brad Allan
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Roeg Sutherland

2019 Academy Awards: ‘Green Book’ wins three Oscars, including Best Picture

February 24, 2019

by Carla Hay

 

"Green Book
Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen in “Green Book” (Photo by Patti Perret)

Universal Pictures’ “Green Book” won three Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 91st Academy Awards, which took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019.  Meanwhile, Netflix’s Spanish-language film “Roma,”  which went into the ceremony tied with the most nominations (10), won four Oscars. There was no host for the show, following the controversy over Kevin Hart quitting the job over his past homophobic remarks, as well as disagreements over his public apologies for those remarks. ABC had the U.S. telecast of the Academy Awards ceremony, which is presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“Green Book” is inspired by the true story of a friendship that develops between Italian-American driver Tony “Lip” Vallelonga and African-American pianist Don Shirley during a early 1960s road trip in the segregated South. “Green Book” also won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Marhershala Ali, who plays Shirley) and Best Original Screenplay, which was co-written by Nick Vallelonga (one of Tony Vallelonga’s sons) and director Peter Farrelly. “Green Book” is one of the few movies that has won the Oscar for Best Picture without its director getting a Best Director nomination.

“Roma” is inspired by filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón’s childhood in early 1970s Mexico, as seen through the perspective of his family’s nanny/housekeeper. “Roma” won the Oscars for Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film.  Cuarón was a winner of all three of these Oscars, since he is the director and cinematographer of “Roma,” as well as one of the film’s producers.

The official Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” won four Oscars: Best Actor (for Rami Malek), Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. 20th Century Fox’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture.

Fox Searchlight’s “The Favourite,” which had 10 nominations going into the ceremony, won one award that came as a surprise to many: Best Actress, for Olivia Colman, who triumphed over widely predicted Glenn Close of “The Wife,” who had been winning several major prizes in this category at other major award shows. “The Favourite,” set in the early 1700s, tells the story of Great Britain’s Queen Anne and two women who compete for her affections. Meanwhile, Regina King of “If Beale Street Could Talk” won for Best Supporting Actress.

Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther,” won three out its seven Oscar nominations: Best Original Score, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. “Black Panther” now holds the record as the superhero movie with the most Oscars.

Presenters at the 2019 Academy Awards were Awkwafina, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Tina Fey, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Amandla Stenberg, Tessa Thompson Constance Wu, Javier Bardem, Angela Bassett, Chadwick Boseman, Emilia Clarke, Laura Dern, Samuel L. Jackson, Stephan James, Keegan-Michael Key, KiKi Layne, James McAvoy, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Momoa, Sarah Paulson, Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, Elsie Fisher, Danai Gurira, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Keaton, Helen Mirren, John Mulaney, Tyler Perry, Pharrell Williams, Krysten Ritter, Paul Rudd, Michelle Yeoh, José Andrés, Dana Carvey, Queen Latifah, Congressman John Lewis, Diego Luna, Tom Morello, Mike Myers, Trevor Noah, Amandla Stenberg, Barbra Streisand and Serena Williams.

Queen with singer Adam Lambert opened the show with a medley of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Other musical performances were for four of the five Oscar-nominated songs. Bette Midler sang “The Place Where Los Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns.” Jennifer Hudson performed “I’ll Fight” from “RBG.” David Rawlings and Gillian Welch performed “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.” Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper duetted on “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born,” which won the Oscar for Best Original Song. “All the Stars” from “Black Panther” was not performed since the song’s artists Kendrick Lamar and SZA declined to perform the song.

Donna Gigliotti (who won an Oscar for Best Picture for 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love) and Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss were the producers of the 2019 Academy Awards. This was the first time that Gigliotti is producing the Oscar ceremony. Weiss has directed several major award shows, including the Oscars and the Tonys.

Diversity and Historic Wins

Rami Malek, Olivia Colman, Regina King and Mahershala Ali at the 91st Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019. (Photo by Rick Rowell/ABC)

It was a historic Oscar ceremony for diversity, since it was a record-breaking Oscar ceremony, with the highest number so far (14) of non-whites winning Oscars in one year. Malek became the first Egyptian-American to win an Oscar for Best Actor. Ali of “Green Book” and Regina King of “If Beale Street Could Talk” joined the growing list of black actors who have won Oscars. “BlacKkKlansman” screenplay co-writer Spike Lee won his first Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. (Lee  also received an honorary Oscar, a non-competitive prize, in 2015.) Black filmmakers won in the categories for Best Adapted Screenplay (Lee and Kevin Willmott); Best Animated Feature (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” co-director Peter Ramsey); Best Production Design (Hannah Beachler of “Black Panther”); and Best Costume Design (Ruth Carter of “Black Panther”). It was the first time that black people have won Oscars for Best Animated Feature, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.

Asian filmmakers also had several Oscar wins: “Free Solo” directors/producers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyil won for Best Documentary Feature; “Bao” director Domee Shi won for Best Animated Short; and “Period. End of Sentence.” director/producer Rayka Zehtabchi won for Best Live-Action Short. “Roma” was the movie that gave Latinos the most representation at this year’s Academy Awards, with wins for Cuarón and producer Gabriela Rodríguez.

The number of female Oscar winners increased considerably in 2019, compared to 2018. In 2019, there were 15 female winners and 36 male winners, compared to 2018, when there were only six female winners and 24 male winners.

In addition, this was the first time in Oscar history that three of the four acting prizes went to LGBTQ character roles, and these characters also happened to be based on real people: Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen Anne of “The Favourite” and pianist Shirley of “Green Book.”

Here is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2019 Academy Awards:

*=winner

Best Picture

Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen in “Green Book” (Photo by Patti Perret)

“Black Panther”
(Producer: Kevin Feige)

“BlacKkKlansman”
(Producers: Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee)

“Bohemian Rhapsody”
(Producer: Graham King)

“The Favourite”
(Producers: Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos)

“Green Book”*
(Producers: Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga)

“Roma”
(Producers: Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón)

“A Star Is Born”
(Producers: Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor)

“Vice”
(Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick)

Best Actor

Rami Malek and Gwilym Lee in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Photo by Alex Bailey)

Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”*
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

Best Actress

Olivia Colman in “The Favourite” (Photo by Atsushi Nishijima)

Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”*
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali in “Green Book” (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures and Participant Media)

Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”*
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

Best Supporting Actress

Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk” (Photo by Tatum Mangus)

Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”*
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Best Director

Alfonso Cuarón and Yalitza Aparicio on the set of “Roma” (Photo by Carlos Somonte/Netflix)

Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Paweł Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”*
Adam McKay, “Vice”

Best Animated Feature

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation)

“Incredibles 2,” directed by Brad Bird; produced by John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle

“Isle of Dogs,” directed and produced by Wes Anderson; produced by Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson

“Mirai,” directed by Mamoru Hosoda; produced by Yuichiro Saito

“Ralph Breaks the Internet,” directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston; produced by Clark Spencer

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman; produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller*

Best Animated Short

“Animal Behaviour,” directed and produced by Alison Snowden and David Fine
“Bao,” directed by Domee Shi; produced by Becky Neiman-Cobb*
“Late Afternoon,” directed by Louise Bagnall; produced by Nuria González Blanco
“One Small Step,” directed by Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends,” directed and produced by Trevor Jimenez

Best Adapted Screenplay

Spike Lee and Adam Driver on the set of “BlacKkKlansman” (Photo by David Lee/ Focus Features)

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“BlacKkKlansman,” Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee*
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins
“A Star Is Born,” Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper and Will Fetters

Best Original Screenplay

Viggo Mortensen, writer/director/producer Peter Farrelly and Mahershala Ali on the set of “Green Book” (Photo by Patti Perret)

“The Favourite,” Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
“First Reformed,” Paul Schrader
“Green Book,” Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly*
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
“Vice,” Adam McKay

Best Cinematography

Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Yalitza Aparicio, Marina De Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey and Carlos Peralta Jacobson in “Roma” (Photo by Carlos Somonte)

“Cold War,” Łukasz Żal
“The Favourite,” Robbie Ryan
“Never Look Away,” Caleb Deschanel
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón*
“A Star Is Born,” Matthew Libatique

Best Documentary Feature

Alex Honnold in “Free Solo” (Photo courtesy of National Geographic)

“Free Solo,” directed and produced by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyil; produced by Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill*

“Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” directed and produced by RaMell Ross; produced by Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim

“Minding the Gap,” directed and produced by Bing Liu; produced by Diane Quon

“Of Fathers and Sons,” directed by Talal Derki; produced by Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert

“RBG,” directed and produced by Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Best Documentary Short Subject

“Black Sheep,” directed by Ed Perkins; produced by Jonathan Chinn
“End Game,” directed and produced by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat,” directed and produced by Skye Fitzgerald
“A Night at the Garden,” directed and produced by Marshall Curry
“Period. End of Sentence.,” directed and produced by Rayka Zehtabchi*

Best Live Action Short Film

“Detainment,” directed and produced by Vincent Lambe; produced by Darren Mahon
“Fauve,” directed by Jeremy Comte; produced by Maria Gracia Turgeon
“Marguerite,” directed by Marianne Farley; produced by Marie-Hélène Panisset
“Mother,” directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen; produced by María del Puy Alvarado
“Skin,” directed and produced by Guy Nattiv; produced by Jaime Ray Newman*

Best Foreign Language Film

Yalitza Aparicio, Marco Graf, Carlos Peralta Jacobson and Daniela Demesa in “Roma” (Photo by Alfonso Cuarón)

“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
“Roma” (Mexico)*
“Shoplifters” (Japan)

Best Film Editing

Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Rami Malek and Joe Mazzello in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox)

“BlacKkKlansman,” Barry Alexander Brown
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Ottman*
“Green Book,” Patrick J. Don Vito
“The Favourite,” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
“Vice,” Hank Corwin

Best Sound Editing

Gwilym Lee, Rami Malek and Joe Mazzello in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Photo courtesy 20th Century Fox)

“Black Panther,” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Warhurst*
“First Man,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“A Quiet Place,” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“Roma,” Sergio Diaz and Skip Lievsay

Best Sound Mixing

Joe Mazzello, Ben Hardy, Rami Malek and Gwilym Lee in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Photo by Alex Bailey)

“Black Panther,” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali*
“First Man,” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
“Roma,” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García
“A Star Is Born,” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow

Best Production Design

Michael B. Jordan and Daniel Kaluuya in “Black Panther” (Photo courtesy of Disney/Marvel Studios)

“Black Panther”*
Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart

“The Favourite”
Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton

“First Man”
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas

“Mary Poppins Returns”
Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

“Roma”
Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez

Best Original Score

Lupita Nyong’o and Chadwick Boseman in “Black Panther” (Photo courtesy of Disney/Marvel Studios)

“BlacKkKlansman,” Terence Blanchard
“Black Panther,” Ludwig Goransson*
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Nicholas Britell
“Isle of Dogs,” Alexandre Desplat
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

Best Original Song

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in “A Star Is Born” (Photo by Clay Enos)

“All the Stars” from “Black Panther,” song written by Kendrick Lamar, Solana Rowe (SZA), Mark Spears and Anthony Tiffith

“I’ll Fight” from “RBG,” song written by Diane Warren

“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns,” song written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born,” song written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice*

“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” song written by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Amy Adams and Christian Bale in “Vice” (Photo by Matt Kennedy)

“Border,” Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer
“Mary Queen of Scots,” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks
“Vice,” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney*

Best Costume Design

Lupita Nyong’o and Letitia Wright in “Black Panther” (Photo by Matt Kennedy)

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Mary Zophres
“Black Panther,” Ruth E. Carter*
“The Favourite,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Queen of Scots,” Alexandra Byrne

Best Visual Effects

Ryan Gosling in “First Man”  (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures)

“Avengers: Infinity War,” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick

“Christopher Robin,” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould

“First Man,” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm*

“Ready Player One,” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk

“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy

2019 Academy Awards: Academy decides to present all categories during live Oscar telecast

February 15, 2019

by John Larson

Academy president John Bailey and Oscar nominee Marianne Farley
Academy president John Bailey and Oscar nominee Marianne Farley (writer/director of the Oscar-nominated live-action short film “Marguerite”) at the Oscar Nominee Luncheon held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on February 4, 2019. (Photo by Phil McCarten/A.M.P.A.S.)

In a move that came after immense backlash and pressure from the film industry and the general public, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has reversed its decision to give out awards for four categories during commercial breaks for the 91st Academy Awards and will instead have the presentation of all Oscar categories during the telecast, as has been the tradition for decades. There are currently 24 competitive categories (categories that require nominations and voting) for the Academy Awards. The 91st Oscar ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the ceremony, which will not have a host.

The Academy had announced back in August 2018 that, in order to keep the Oscar telecast limited to three hours, some of the award categories would be dropped from the live telecast, with those categories’ awards and acceptance speeches taking place during commercial breaks. The Academy did not reveal at the time which categories would be dropped or if any part of the winners’ speeches from the dropped categories would be televised. The Academy did say that the list of winners from those dropped categories would be announced later during the show in an abbreviated format.

The controversy started when the Academy announced on February 11, 2019, that the dropped categories were Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Live-Action Short and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The protesters, which included numerous Oscar winners and nominees, were particularly offended that the awards for cinematography and film editing, which are the backbone of filmmaking, were going to be relegated to commercial breaks. And even though the Academy tried to appease the protesters the next day by saying that the acceptance speeches from the dropped categories would be televised later during the show, the Academy would not say if the speeches would be edited. The general feeling among the protesters was that the speeches would be heavily edited for the TV broadcast.

According to Variety, Academy president John Bailey (who is a former cinematographer) and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson had a meeting on February 14 with top cinematographers and have pledged to air every awards category on the live show. The cinematographers at the meeting, according to Variety, were American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) president Kees van Osstrom and ASC members Hoyte van Hoytema (Oscar nominee for “Dunkirk”), Rachel Morrison (Oscar nominee for “Mudbound”) and Emmanuel Lubezki (Oscar winner for “Gravity,” “Birdman” and “The Revenant”)

The Academy then issued this statement: “The Academy has heard the feedback from its membership regarding the Oscar presentation of four awards – Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling. All Academy Awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format. We look forward to Oscar Sunday, February 24.”

After the decision was made to have all Oscar categories remain in the telecast, the ASC released this open letter to the Academy that read in part: “In exploring this issue we have all been reminded of an important distinction: The Academy Awards cannot become just be another televised celebrity showcase. Our prestigious Academy has a higher purpose and must stand apart from other organizations by equally recognizing the most outstanding artists and craftspeople in all categories. We thank you for your show of respect for the hard-working members of the film community, whose dedication and exceptional talents deserve the public recognition this reversal now allows them to enjoy.”

Numerous prominent filmmakers protested the Academy’s decision to present awards during the Oscar telecast’s commercial breaks. These filmmakers included Oscar winners Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Damien Chazelle, Quentin Tarantino, Ang Lee, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Russell Crowe, costume designer Sandy Powell and cinematographers Janusz Kaminski and Roger Deakins. Spike Lee, Seth Rogen and Alec Baldwin were some of the other famous names who were part of the protest.

The decision reversal is another public-relations debacle for the Academy, which had also announced in August 2018 that it was adding a “popular films” category, only to abandon the idea a month later after immense backlash and criticism from industry professionals and the general public. The Academy also had another embarrassment in January 2019, when comedian/actor Kevin Hart stepped down from hosting the 2019 Oscar ceremony two days after it was announced that he was hosting the show. Hart quit the job after disagreements with the Academy over making a public apology for homophobic remarks that he made several years ago. After Hart stepped down as Oscar host, he made several public apologies for his past homophobic comments, but said he was not interested in hosting the Oscars this year because of all the controversy.

The producers who are heading the 91st Oscar ceremony telecast are Donna Giglotti (a past Oscar winner for producing 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love) and veteran TV director Glenn Weiss, who is also directing the show, as he has for many years. This is Gigliotti’s first time that she will be producing the Oscar telecast.

2019 Academy Awards: Academy announces which awards won’t be televised; controversy ensues

February 11, 2019

by John Larson

Alfonso Cuarón and Yalitza Aparicio on the set of “Roma” (Photo by Carlos Somonte/Netflix)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that categories of Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Live-Action Short will be dropped from the Oscar telecast at the 91st Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which will not have a host. The Academy announced in August 2018 that, in order to keep the Oscar telecast strictly limited to three hours, the 2019 Oscar ceremony would drop a certain number of categories from the telecast and would instead give the awards during commercial breaks. The winners would then be listed on-screen instead of having their entire acceptance speeches televised.

At the time the Academy announced in August 2018 that it would be dropping a certain number of categories from the Oscar telecast, the Academy did not specify how many and which categories would be dropped but did say that it would not be the same categories that would be dropped every year. Many people assumed that any of the three categories for short films (live-action, animation and documentaries), would be the most likely to be dropped since short films are the least-seen films of the Oscar nominees. The technical categories for sound editing and sound mixing also seemed likely to get dropped from the telecast. Therefore, it was a shock to many industry professionals that cinematography and film editing—which are considered two of the most crucial aspects of filmmaking—were among the dropped categories. Although there has been some criticism for dropping the makeup/hairstyling and live-action shorts categories, most of the criticism is over dropping the categories for cinematography and film editing.

The Academy’s announcement was met with immense backlash from Academy voters, other industry professionals and movie fans, who voiced their opinions on social media and elsewhere. Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, who has several Oscar nominations this year for “Roma,” including for Best Cinematography, tweeted this criticism of the Academy’s decision to drop the Best Cinematography prize from the Oscar telecast: “In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing.” Cuarón has won Oscars for producing, directing and co-editing the 2013 film “Gravity,” which also won Oscars for cinematography, sound editing, sound mixing, original score and visual effects.

Cuarón is the writer, director, editor and cinematographer of “Roma,” as well as one of the film’s producers. He has already won several prizes as the director, cinematographer and producer of “Roma,” a Spanish-language movie filmed in black and white. “Roma” is tied with “The Favourite” for the most Oscar nominations (10) this year. Oscar nominations for “The Favourite” include those for cinematography and film editing.

Kees van Oostrum, the president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), issued this statement: “After receiving many comments on this matter from ASC members, I think I speak for many of them in declaring this a most unfortunate decision. We consider filmmaking to be a collaborative effort where the responsibilities of the director, cinematographer, editor and other crafts often intersect. This decision could be perceived as a separation and division of this creative process, thus minimizing our fundamental creative contributions. The Academy is an important institution that represents our artistry in the eyes of the world. Since the organization’s inception 91 years ago, the Academy Awards have honored cinematographers’ talent, craft and contributions to the filmmaking process, but we cannot quietly condone this decision without protest.”

He also told Variety: “The decision can only be seen as a diminution of our contribution. It’s absolutely the wrong message. My phone has been ringing off the hook. It also diminishes the contribution of editors, with whom we collaborate very closely.”

Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”) was among the celebrities, such as Alec Baldwin and Seth Rogen, who condemned the decision. Crowe tweeted in an expletive-peppered statement: “The Academy is removing cinematography, editing and makeup from the televised show? This is just a fundamentally stupid decision, I’m not even going to be bothered to be a smart arse about it. It’s just too fucking dumb for words.”

Meanwhile, several people who are not happy about the dropped categories began posting the hashtag #boycottoscars on social media in addition to expressing their outrage and disgust. Several of the protesters say that tedious monologues, skits and stunts should be dropped from the Oscar telecast instead of dropping important award categories.

The decision to drop these categories is one of several controversies and public-relations missteps by the Academy over the 2019 Oscars. In January 2019, comedian/actor Kevin Hart dropped out of hosting the show because of his past homophobic remarks and disagreements over how he would make a public apology. Less than a month later, the Academy considered having only two of the five Best Original Song nominations performed at the ceremony, which was idea that was swiftly shot down by the nominees, Academy members and the general public. And in August 2018, the Academy announced the addition of a “popular films” category, an idea that was dropped a month later due to immense backlash from the industry and the general public. It didn’t help that when the Academy announced the “popular films” category, it did not explain how films would qualify for that category.

Academy members have made it clear on social media that it is the Academy’s board of directors and branch governors, not the membership as a whole, who have made these decisions without full input from voting membership. Ratings for the Oscars, as well as for almost all major televised award shows, have been on a downward spiral for the past few years. The 2018 Oscar telecast was the lowest-rated in Oscar history so far, with 26.5 million U.S. viewers.

The 91st Oscar ceremony is being produced by Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss, who is also directing the show. It will be the first Oscar ceremony since 1989 to not have a host.

February 13, 2019 UPDATE: According to Deadline, about 99 prominent filmmakers (including Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino and Seth Rogen; Oscar-winning directors Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee and Damien Chazelle; and Oscar-winning cinematographers Roger Deakins, Emmanuel Lubezki and Janusz Kaminski; and Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell) signed an open letter to the Academy vehemently protesting the decision to have four award categories presented during the commercial breaks.

In response, the Academy’s board of governors issued a statement that appears to backtrack from the Academy’s previous hints that the winners’ speeches in those categories would not be televised. The statement clarifies that the speeches will be televised, but the speeches will be shown later in the Oscar telecast. What the statement does not say is if or how much the speeches will be edited. Considering that reducing the ceremony’s running time was the main reason from not having these four categories presented in the same manner as the other categories, it’s likely that the speeches that happen during the commercial breaks will be heavily edited.

Here is the statement from the Academy:

“We’d like to restate and explain the plans for presenting the awards, as endorsed by the Academy’s Board of Governors.”

· All 24 Award categories are presented on stage in the Dolby Theatre, and included in the broadcast.· Four categories – Cinematography, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Live Action Short – were volunteered by their branches to have their nominees and winners announced by presenters, and included later in the broadcast. Time spent walking to the stage and off, will be edited out.

· The four winning speeches will be included in the broadcast.

· In future years, four to six different categories may be selected for rotation, in collaboration with the show producers. This year’s categories will be exempted in 2020.

· This change in the show was discussed and agreed to by the Board of Governors in August, with the full support of the branch executive committees.

Such decisions are fully deliberated. Our show producers have given great consideration to both Oscar tradition and our broad global audience.We sincerely believe you will be pleased with the show, and look forward to celebrating a great year in movies with all Academy members and with the rest of the world.

John Bailey, President
Lois Burwell, First Vice President
Sid Ganis, Vice President
Larry Karaszewski, Vice President
Nancy Utley, Vice President
Jim Gianopulos, Treasurer
David Rubin, Secretary

February 15, 2019 UPDATE: The Academy has reversed its decision, and the Oscar ceremony will go back to fully televising all of the award categories. Click here for the full story.

2019 Academy Awards: performers and presenters announced

February 11, 2019

by Carla Hay

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 6, 2019. (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced several entertainers who will be performers and presenters at the 91st Annual Academy Awards ceremony, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which will not have a host. As previously reported, comedian/actor Kevin Hart was going to host the show, but he backed out after the show’s producers demanded that he make a public apology for homophobic remarks that he made several years ago. After getting a  firestorm of backlash for the homophobic remarks, Hart later made several public apologies but remained adamant that he would still not host the Oscars this year.

The celebrities who will be on stage at the Oscars this year are several of those whose songs are nominated for Best Original Song. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper will perform their duet “Shallow” from their movie remake of “A Star Is Born.” Jennifer Hudson will perform “I’ll Fight” from the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary “RBG.” David Rawlings and Gillian Welch will team up for the duet “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from the Western film “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.” It has not yet been announced who will perform “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from the Disney musical sequel “Mary Poppins Returns.”** It also hasn’t been announced yet if Kendrick Lamar and SZA will take the stage for “All the Stars” from the superhero flick “Black Panther.”

Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic do the music for the “In Memoriam” segment, which spotlights notable people in the film industry who have died in the year since the previous Oscar ceremony.

Meanwhile, the following celebrities have been announced as presenters at the ceremony: Whoopi Goldberg (who has hosted the Oscars twice in the past), Awkwafina, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Tina Fey, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Amandla Stenberg, Tessa Thompson Constance Wu, Javier Bardem, Angela Bassett, Chadwick Boseman, Emilia Clarke, Laura Dern, Samuel L. Jackson, Stephan James, Keegan-Michael Key, KiKi Layne, James McAvoy, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Momoa and Sarah Paulson. Goldberg and Bardem are previous Oscar winners.

Other previous Oscar winners taking the stage will be Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney, who won the actor and actress prizes at the 2018 Academy Awards.

Donna Gigliotti (who won an Oscar for Best Picture for 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love) and Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss are the producers of the 2019 Academy Awards. This will be the first time that Gigliotti is producing the Oscar ceremony. Weiss has directed several major award shows, including the Oscars and the Tonys. He will direct the Oscar ceremony again in 2019.

**February 18, 2019 UPDATE: Bette Midler will perform “The Place Where Los Things Go,” the Oscar-nominated song from “Mary Poppins Returns.” British rock band Queen, whose official biopic is the Oscar-nominated film “Bohemian Rhapsody,” will also perform on the show with lead singer Adam Lambert. It has not been revealed which song(s) Queen will perform at the Oscars.

February 19, 2019 UPDATE: These presenters have been added to the Oscar telecast: Elsie Fisher, Danai Gurira, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Keaton, Helen Mirren, John Mulaney, Tyler Perry, Pharrell Williams, Krysten Ritter, Paul Rudd and Michelle Yeoh.

February 21, 2019 UPDATE: These celebrities will present the Best Picture nominees: José Andrés, Dana Carvey, Queen Latifah, Congressman John Lewis, Diego Luna, Tom Morello, Mike Myers, Trevor Noah, Amandla Stenberg, Barbra Streisand and Serena Williams.

2019 Academy Awards: Where to watch the Oscar-nominated movies in theaters and on video

January 23, 2019

by Carla Hay

Oscars

Now that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 91st annual Academy Awards, people might be wondering where to see the nominated films before the winners are announced. The Oscar ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019. ABC will have the live telecast of the show in the United States. Here is where the nominated films can be seen in theaters and on video before the Oscar ceremony. (This information applies to U.S. theaters only, and remains current until February 24, 2019.)

NOTE: “Home video” means available for rent or purchase in various formats on Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play, etc.

BEST PICTURE

“BlacKkKlansman”

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director (Spike Lee)
Best Supporting Actor (Adam Driver)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Film Editing
Best Original Score

Where to watch:
Home video
Limited re-release in select theaters on January 25, 2019
Regal Best Picture Film Festival (February 15-24, 2019)
AMC Best Picture Marathon (February 23, 2019)

 

“Black Panther”

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Costume Design
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Original Score
Best Original Song (“All the Stars”)

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Streaming on Netflix.
Free screenings at select AMC Theaters (February 1-7, 2019)
Regal Best Picture Film Festival (February 15-24, 2019)
AMC Best Picture Marathon (February 16 and February 23, 2019)

 

“Bohemian Rhapsody” 

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Actor (Rami Malek)
Best Film Editing
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.
Available on digital video. Home video release in all other formats: February 12, 2019.
Regal Best Picture Film Festival (February 15-24, 2019)
AMC Best Picture Marathon (February 23, 2019)

“The Favourite”

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director (Yorgos Lanthimos)
Best Actress (Olivia Colman)
Best Supporting Actress (Emma Stone)
Best Supporting Actress (Rachel Weisz)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Production Design
Best Costume Design

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.
Regal Best Picture Film Festival (February 15-24, 2019)
AMC Best Picture Marathon (February 23, 2019)

“Green Book” 

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Actor (Viggo Mortensen)
Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Film Editing

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.
Regal Best Picture Film Festival (February 15-24, 2019)
AMC Best Picture Marathon (February 23, 2019)

 

“Roma” 

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director (Alfonso Cuarón)
Best Actress (Yalitza Aparicio)
Best Supporting Actress (Marina de Tavira)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Cinematography
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing

Where to watch:
Playing in select independent theaters.
Streaming on Netflix.

“A Star Is Born”

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Actor (Bradley Cooper)
Best Actress (Lady Gaga)
Best Supporting Actor (Sam Elliott)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Sound Mixing
Best Original Song (“Shallow”)

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.
Available on digital video. Home video release in all other formats: February 19, 2019.
Regal Best Picture Film Festival (February 15-24, 2019)
AMC Best Picture Marathon (February 23, 2019)

“Vice”

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director (Adam McKay)
Best Actor (Christian Bale)
Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell)
Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.
Regal Best Picture Film Festival (February 15-24, 2019)
AMC Best Picture Marathon (February 23, 2019)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Free Solo”

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.
Digital video release: February 5, 2019. Home video release in all other formats: February 19, 2019.

“Hale County This Morning, This Evening” 

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.
PBS’s “Independent Lens” will have the TV premiere on February 11, 2019 — check local listings.

“Minding the Gap” 

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.
Streaming on Hulu.
PBS’s “POV” will have the TV premiere on February 18, 2019 — check local listings.
Streaming on POV.org on February 18, 2019.

“Of Fathers and Sons” 

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters for limited engagements.
Streaming on Kanopy. (Free with a valid library card from participating libraries.)

“RBG” 

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Streaming on Hulu.
CNN will re-air “RBG” on February 16, 2019, at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

 

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

“Capernaum” (Lebanon) 

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.

“Cold War” (Poland)

Nominated for:
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Director (Paweł Pawlikowski)
Best Cinematography

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.

“Never Look Away” (Germany)

Nominated for:
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Cinematography

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.

“Roma” (Mexico)

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director (Alfonso Cuarón)
Best Actress (Yalitza Aparicio)
Best Supporting Actress (Marina de Tavira)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Cinematography
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing

Where to watch:
Playing in select independent theaters.
Streaming on Netflix.

“Shoplifters” (Japan)

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.

 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“Incredibles 2”

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Streaming on Netflix begins on January 30, 2019.

“Isle of Dogs”

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Available on HBO.

“Mirai” 

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters for limited engagements.

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” 

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” 

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.

BEST SHORT FILMS (ANIMATED, LIVE-ACTION & DOCUMENTARY)

Every year, select AMC Theaters have special screenings of the Oscar-nominated short films. The screenings of the Oscar-nominated short films begin on February 8, 2019. More information can be found here.

Select independent theaters will also have special screenings of the Oscar-nominated short films. Check local listings. In addition, most cable and satellite TV companies will have the Oscar-nominated short films available as a VOD package for subscribers.

Some of the short films are currently available for viewing on the Internet:

“Bao” 
Nominated for:
Best Animated Short

Where to watch:
Available in digital format on iTunes and Amazon.

“Late Afternoon”
Nominated for:
Best Animated Short

Where to watch:
Streaming on Vimeo (free).

“One Small Step”
Nominated for:
Best Animated Short

Where to watch:
Streaming on Vimeo (free).

“Fauve”
Nominated for:
Best Live-Action Short

Where to watch:
Streaming on Vimeo (free).

“Black Sheep” 
Nominated for:
Best Documentary Short

Where to watch:
Streaming on Vimeo or YouTube (free).

“End Game” 
Nominated for:
Best Documentary  Short

Where to watch:
Streaming on Netflix.

“Lifeboat” 
Nominated for:
Best Documentary Short

Where to watch:
Streaming on YouTube (free).

“A Night at the Garden
Nominated for:
Best Documentary Short

Where to watch:
Streaming on the movie’s websiteYouTube and Vimeo (free).

“Period. End of Sentence.” 
Nominated for:
Best Documentary Short

Where to watch:
Streaming on Netflix as of Feb. 12, 2019.

 

OTHER OSCAR-NOMINATED FEATURE FILMS

“At Eternity’s Gate” 

Nominated for:
Best Actor (Willem Dafoe)

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.
Home video release: February 12, 2019.

“Avengers: Infinity War” 

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Streaming on Netflix.

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”

Nominated for:
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Costume Design
Best Original Song (“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings”)

Where to watch:
Streaming on Netflix.

“Border” 

Nominated for:
Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters.

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Nominated for:
Best Actress (Melissa McCarthy)
Best Supporting Actor (Richard E. Grant)
Best Adapted Screenplay

Where to watch:
Playing in select theaters. Home video release: February 19, 2019.

“Christopher Robin” 

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects

Where to watch:
Available on home video.

“First Man” 

Nominated for:
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Playing in select theaters for a limited re-release on January 25, 2019.

“First Reformed” 

Nominated for:
Best Original Screenplay

Where to watch:
Available on home video
Streaming on Amazon.
Streaming on Kanopy. (Free with a valid library card from participating libraries.)

“If Beale Street Could Talk” 

Nominated for:
Best Supporting Actress (Regina King)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Score

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.

“Mary Poppins Returns”

Nominated for:
Best Production Design
Best Costume Design
Best Original Score
Best Original Song (“The Place Where Lost Things Go”)

Where to watch:
Playing in theaters nationwide.

“Mary Queen of Scots” 

Nominated for:
Best Costume Design
Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Where to watch:
Playing theaters nationwide.

“A Quiet Place” 

Nominated for:
Best Sound Editing

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Available on Epix.

“Ready Player One” 

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Available on HBO.

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” 

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Streaming on Netflix.

“The Wife” 

Nominated for:
Best Actress (Glenn Close)

Where to watch:
Available on home video.
Playing in select theaters.

2019 Academy Awards: ‘Roma’ and ‘The Favourite’ are the top nominees

January 22, 2019

by Carla Hay

Yalitza Aparicio in "Roma"
Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma” (Photo by Alfonso Cuarón)
Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman in “The Favourite” (Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos)

With 10 nominations each, including Best Picture, the Spanish-language drama “Roma” and the British dark comedy “The Favourite” are the leading nominees for the 91st Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019. There is no host for the show, following the controversy over Kevin Hart quitting the job over his past homophobic remarks, as well as disagreements over his public apologies for those remarks. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the Academy Awards ceremony, which is presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Actor/screenwriter Kumail Nanjiani and actress Tracee Ellis Ross announced the nominations on January 22 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.

Netflix’s “Roma” is inspired by filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón’s childhood in early 1970s Mexico, as seen through the perspective of his family’s nanny/housekeeper. Fox Searchlight’s “The Favourite,” set in the early 1700s, tells the story of Great Britain’s Queen Anne and two women who compete for her affections.

As of 2010, the Academy can nominate up to 10 movies for Best Picture. This year, there are only eight movies that made the list: In addition to “Roma” and “The Favourite,” the other Best Picture contenders are “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Green Book,” “A Star Is Born” and “Vice.” Of those contenders, “A Star is Born” and “Vice” have eight nominations each; “Black Panther” scored seven nods; “BlacKkKlansman” has six nominations; and “Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” received five nods each.

In the categories for actors, actresses and directors, most of the contenders are those who have been the same nominees or winners at other award shows leading up to the Oscars. However, there were some nominations that were not widely predicted.

Snubs and Surprises

Bradley Cooper (pictured at left) on the set of “A Star Is Born” (Photo by Clay Enos)

The Oscars can always be counted on to have some nominations that are very different from the other major movie awards. The biggest snub was Bradley Cooper of “A Star Is Born” being shut out of the Best Director category, even though he was nominated for that prize at just about every other award show where movies from major studios are eligible. (Cooper’s 2018 remake of “A Star Is Born” was released by Warner Bros. Pictures.) Cooper, who made his directorial debut with “A Star Is Born,” still received three Oscar nominations for the movie: Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. (He’s also one of the movie’s producers and screenwriters.)

The biggest surprises were the nominations for the two main actresses from “Roma”: Yalitza Aparicio (for Best Actress) and Marina de Tavira (for Best Supporting Actress). Aparicio, who made her film debut in “Roma,” got very little recognition on the awards circuit leading up to the Oscars: She picked up a Critics’ Choice nomination and won a Hollywood Film Award for her role in the movie, but she was passed over for nominations at just about all the other movie award shows. Meanwhile, de Tavira was completely shut out of being nominated at all other major U.S.-based movie award shows until the Oscars.

Another big surprise was Paweł Pawlikowski getting a Best Director nomination for his Polish-language “Cold War,” which is, just like “Roma,” a period movie filmed in black-and-white in a non-English language and distributed by a streaming service. (Amazon is distributing “Cold War.”) Pawlikowski’s nomination for Best Director was also unusual because it’s rare for someone to get an Oscar nomination for Best Director for a movie that is not nominated for Best Picture. In addition to Pawlikowski, the other Best Director nominees are Spike Lee for “BlacKkKlansman”; Yorgos Lanthimos for “The Favourite”; Alfonso Cuarón for “Roma”; and Adam McKay for “Vice.” “Cold War” had been widely predicted to get Oscar nominations for Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Cinematography, and the movie did get those nods, but it’s got stiff competition from “Roma” in all of those categories.

Amazon Studios’ robust awards campaign for Timothée Chalamet and his supporting role in the drug-addiction drama “Beautiful Boy” seemed to be paying off, since he was getting nominated at several award shows, but Chalamet and “Beautiful Boy” were ultimately shut out of the Oscar race. And so was another buzzworthy “based on a true story” drama about a troubled teenage son: Focus Features’ “Boy Erased,” starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe as a family affected by the controversial practices of gay-conversion therapy.

Ethan Hawke in “First Reformed” (Photo courtesy of A24)

Ethan Hawke won the majority of critics’ awards for Best Actor for his role in A24’s “First Reformed,” but he was shut out of the Oscar race for the movie. Although he was a critics’ darling, Hawke did very little awards campaigning for the movie, which probably hurt his chances of being nominated for an Oscar. (He was also snubbed this year by the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Golden Globe Awards.) Instead, the only Oscar nomination for writer/director Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” was Best Original Screenplay.

Horror movies are typically overlooked by the Academy Awards (2017’s “Get Out” was one of the few exceptions), and this year continued that snubbing pattern, with critically acclaimed “A Quiet Place”from Paramount Pictures getting just one nomination (Best Sound Editing) and A24’s “Hereditary” (which had its share of passionate fans and detractors) getting completely shut out of the race.

It hasn’t been a good Oscar year for independent film distributor A24, which previously scored Oscar gold for 2016’s “Moonlight,” winner of the prizes for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. A24 lost some of its Oscar momentum for its movies released in 2017: “Lady Bird” received five Oscar nominations but no Oscar wins, while the Oscar campaign for “The Disaster Artist” imploded when the movie’s star/director James Franco was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women during the final week of Oscar nomination voting. Franco was snubbed by the Academy for “The Disaster Artist,” and the movie ended up with only one Oscar nomination:  Best Adapted Screenplay, for writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. This year, A24’s “Hereditary” and the critically acclaimed teen comedy “Eighth Grade” were completely shut out for Oscar nominations, while A24’s only Oscar nod for a 2018 movie was for the previously mentioned Best Original Screenplay nomination for “First Reformed.”

As streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu continue to increase their clout in the movie industry, traditional independent studios are struggling to keep up with getting hit movies and major awards. A24 isn’t the only independent studio whose awards influence has faded for movies released in 2018. Neon hit a home run in its first year in business with 2017’s “I, Tonya,” which scooped up several major awards (including an Oscar) for Allison Janney’s supporting performance. However, Neon’s 2018 movies have mostly been passed over for winning awards: The Natalie Portman music-oriented drama “Vox Lux” and the documentary “Three Identical Strangers” were Neon’s biggest awards hopefuls of the year, but those two films have been completely shut out of Oscar nominations. Neon’s only Oscar nod for a 2018 film is Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the troll movie “Border,” which has tough competition with category frontrunner “Vice.”

Emily Blunt in “Mary Poppins Returns” (Photo by Jay Maidment/Disney Enterprises, Inc.)

Disney’s musical sequel “Mary Poppins Returns” didn’t get Oscar nominations for Best Picture, lead actress Emily Blunt and supporting actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, but the movie got expected nominations for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Universal Pictures’ “First Man,” which depicts astronaut Neil Armstrong’s journey to being the first man on the moon, started out strong after getting rave reviews at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, but Oscar buzz for “First Man” (starring Ryan Gosling as Armstrong) considerably faded after the movie fizzled at the box office and got snubbed in most of the major categories at several award shows. Best Original Score was the only category for which “First Man” was winning the most awards leading up to the Oscars. The prizes for “First Man” composer Justin Hurwitz included a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award. Therefore, it was surprising that he didn’t get an Oscar nomination in this category. “First Man” did receive four Oscar nods, but only in technical categories: Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects. “First Man” was director Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to his award-winning hit “La La Land” (which won six Oscars, including Best Director), so “First Man” getting snubbed in the biggest Oscar categories is a big step down for Chazelle.

Focus Features’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” the Fred Rogers biography directed by Morgan Neville, was widely predicted as the frontrunner for Best Documentary Feature because the movie had been winning most of the documentary awards up until this point, but the movie failed to get an Oscar nomination. Instead, “Of Fathers and Sons,” a movie about a radical Islamist family, received a surprise Oscar nomination, after being passed over for nominations at every other major award show that gives prizes to documentary feature films. So why the Oscar snub for “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” The Academy tends to reward documentaries that have a great deal of original footage (in other words, not relying too heavily on archived footage), and the Academy voters prefer investigative documentaries that uncover a lot of information that was not widely known to the general public. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” was undoubtedly a feel-good popular movie, but perhaps Academy voters considered it to be too much of a safe and conventional documentary where the filmmakers didn’t challenge themselves enough, beyond collecting archived footage and getting authorized interviews with Rogers’ family and colleagues.

Despite all the hoopla over the romantic comedy “Crazy Rich Asians,” the movie was completely shut out of the Oscar race. Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Crazy Rich Asians,” which was a big international hit, was the first major Hollywood studio movie to have an all-Asian cast since 1993’s “The Joy Luck Club.” “Crazy Rich Asians” got mostly positive reviews from critics, but the movie’s formulaic plot with over-used clichés seem to have severely hurt its chances of being taken seriously by Oscar voters.

In other categories, surprises included the German film “Never Look Away” (distributed in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics) getting nominations for Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Cinematography after being passed over for those nominations at almost all of the other movie award shows. The Academy rewarded “Never Look Away” with Oscar nominations, but snubbed South Korea’s “Burning” for Best Foreign-Language Film and “Black Panther” for Best Cinematography, even though “Burning” and “Black Panther” scored those nominations at several other award shows.

Diversity Issues

Lupita Nyong’o, Chadwick Boseman and Danai Gurira in “Black Panther” (Photo courtesy of Disney/Marvel Studios)

Ever since the #OscarsSoWhite backlash of 2015 and 2016, the Academy has been under intense scrutiny over diversity issues when it comes to race and gender. (Most of the Academy members and Oscar nominees are white males.) The Academy has made public efforts to invite more women and people of color into its membership in recent years. There has been a little more diversity, in terms of who gets nominated for Oscars, but there is still a long way to go for most of the behind-the-scenes technical categories, such as editing, visual effects, original score and cinematography. The good news for Oscar diversity in 2019 is that there is at least one person of color nominated in each of the four acting categories. In addition, several women and people of color are nominated in the category of Best Picture, an award that goes to a film’s producer(s). They are Jordan Peele and Spike Lee (African-American males) for “BlacKkKlansman”; and Ceci Dempsey and Lee Magiday (white females) for “The Favourite”; Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón (Latinos) for “Roma”; Lynette Howell Taylor (white female) for “A Star Is Born”; and Dede Gardner (white female) for “Vice.”

In other gender-neutral Oscar categories, women did not make much progress, compared to the 2018 Academy Awards. In 2019, there were no women nominated in the Oscar categories of Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Original Score. (In 2018, the categories of Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing each had one female nominee, while Best Original Score continued to have only male nominees.) And in the categories of Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, only one woman was nominated in each category in 2019, and they share the nomination with a man.

The categories for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling have traditionally been dominated by women. All of this year’s nominees for Best Costume Design are female, while women are 62.5 percent of this year’s Best Makeup and Hairstyling nominees. The gender-neutral categories that have the most gender parity this year are Best Production Design, Best Original Song and Best Documentary Feature, where women are almost half of the nominees in each category.

Hannah Beachler of “Black Panther” became the first African-American to get an Oscar nomination for Best Production Design. African-Americans earned other rare nominations in categories that are typically dominated by white/Caucasian filmmakers: “BlacKkKlansman” had the most nominations this year for black filmmakers: Spike Lee earned three nods as a director, producer and screenwriter, while producer Jordan Peele, screenwriter Kevin Willmott and composer Terence Blanchard were also nominated for the movie. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” co-director Peter Ramsey is among the nominees for Best Animated Feature; costume designer Ruth E. Carter is a contender for “Black Panther”; and Barry Jenkins of “If Beale Street Could Talk” is up for Best Adapted Screenplay, an Oscar that he won for 2016’s “Moonlight,” making him only the third black person to win an Oscar in that category. Other black Oscar nominees this year are Kendrick Lamar, Solana Rowe (also known as SZA), Mark Spears and Anthony Tiffith, who all co-wrote Best Original Song nominee “All the Stars” from “Black Panther.”

“Roma” was the movie that gave Latinos the most representation at this year’s Academy Awards, and “Roma” is expected to win multiple Oscars. In addition to Cuarón and actresses Aparicio and de Tavira, other “Roma” Oscar nominees are producer Gabriela Rodríguez (Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film); Sergio Diaz (Best Sound Editing); José Antonio García (Best Sound Mixing);and Eugenio Caballero and Bárbara Enríquez (Best Production Design), It’s also worth noting that three Mexican directors (Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro) have won several of the Best Director awards in the 2010s decade. Cuarón, who is the frontrunner to win for “Roma,” previously won the Best Director prize for 2013’s “Gravity”; Iñárritu won for 2014’s “Birdman” and 2015’s “The Revenant”‘; and del Toro won for 2017’s “The Shape of Water.”

Even though “Crazy Rich Asians” didn’t get any Oscar nominations, that doesn’t mean that Asians were completely snubbed by the Academy this year. Asians who received Oscar nominations include cinematographer Matthew Libatique for “A Star Is Born”; director Mamoru Hosoda and producer Yuichiro Saito for the animated film “Mirai”; director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who scored a Best Foreign-Language Film nod for Japan’s “Shoplifters”; and director Bobby Pontillas, who earned a Best Animated Short nomination for  co-directing “One Small Step.” The category of Best Documentary Feature had the highest Asian representation, with directors/producers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi for “Free Solo”; director/producer Bing Liu and producer Diane Quon for “Minding the Gap”; director Talal Derki (who is of Syrian/Middle Eastern descent) for “Of Fathers and Sons”; and producer Su Kim for “Hale County This Morning, This Evening.”

Notable Milestones

Alfonso Cuarón and Yalitza Aparicio on the set of “Roma” (Photo by Carlos Somonte/Netflix)

The 2019 Oscar race has several milestones. “Roma” is the first Netflix movie to get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, although it’s not the first streaming service to score a nomination in that category. That milestone was achieved by Amazon’s 2016 drama “Manchester by the Sea,” which went on to win Best Actor (for Casey Affleck) and Best Original Screenplay (for Kenneth Lonergan).  Netflix won its first Oscar for the 2017 documentary feature film “Icarus.” If “Roma” wins Best Picture, it will be not only be the first movie from a streaming service to win Best Picture at the Oscars, but also the first non-English-language movie to win the prize.

As widely predicted, Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” was nominated for Best Picture, making it the first superhero movie to be nominated in this Oscar category. However, with no Oscar nominations in the categories for acting, directing or screenplay, “Black Panther” is a long shot to win Best Picture. The other Oscar nominations for “Black Panther” are for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

“BlacKkKlansman” filmmaker Spike Lee, who has been making critically acclaimed movies since the 1980s, received his first Oscar nomination for Best Director, after being passed over in that category for decades. Lee, who is one of the producers and screenwriters of Focus Features’ “BlacKkKlansman,” also picked up nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, which are also his first Oscar nominations in those categories. He was previously nominated for Best Original Screenplay for 1989’s “Do the Right Thing” and Best Documentary Feature for 1997’s “4 Little Girls.” Lee  also received an honorary Oscar (a non-competitive prize) in 2015.

Spike Lee and Adam Driver on the set of “BlacKkKlansman” (Photo by David Lee/ Focus Features)

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2019 Academy Awards:

Best Picture
“Black Panther”
(Producer: Kevin Feige)

“BlacKkKlansman”
(Producers: Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee)

“Bohemian Rhapsody”
(Producer: Graham King)

“The Favourite”
(Producers: Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos)

“Green Book”
(Producers: Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga)

“Roma”
(Producers: Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón)

“A Star Is Born”
(Producers: Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor)

“Vice”
(Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick)

Best Actor
Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

Best Actress
Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Best Director
Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Paweł Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Adam McKay, “Vice”

Best Animated Feature
“Incredibles 2,” directed by Brad Bird; produced by John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle

“Isle of Dogs,” directed and produced by Wes Anderson; produced by Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson

“Mirai,” directed by Mamoru Hosoda; produced by Yuichiro Saito

“Ralph Breaks the Internet,” directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston; produced by Clark Spencer

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman; produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Best Animated Short
“Animal Behaviour,” directed and produced by Alison Snowden and David Fine
“Bao,” directed by Domee Shi; produced by Becky Neiman-Cobb
“Late Afternoon,” directed by Louise Bagnall; produced by Nuria González Blanco
“One Small Step,” directed by Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends,” directed and produced by Trevor Jimenez

Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“BlacKkKlansman,” Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins
“A Star Is Born,” Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper and Will Fetters

Best Original Screenplay
“The Favourite,” Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
“First Reformed,” Paul Schrader
“Green Book,” Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
“Vice,” Adam McKay

Best Cinematography
“Cold War,” Łukasz Żal
“The Favourite,” Robbie Ryan
“Never Look Away,” Caleb Deschanel
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
“A Star Is Born,” Matthew Libatique

Best Documentary Feature
“Free Solo,” directed and produced by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyil; produced by Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill

“Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” directed and produced by RaMell Ross; produced by Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim

“Minding the Gap,” directed and produced by Bing Liu; produced by Diane Quon

“Of Fathers and Sons,” directed by Talal Derki; produced by Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert

“RBG,” directed and produced by Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Best Documentary Short Subject
“Black Sheep,” directed by Ed Perkins; produced by Jonathan Chinn
“End Game,” directed and produced by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat,” directed and produced by Skye Fitzgerald
“A Night at the Garden,” directed and produced by Marshall Curry
“Period. End of Sentence.,” directed and produced by Rayka Zehtabchi

Best Live Action Short Film
“Detainment,” directed and produced by Vincent Lambe; produced by Darren Mahon
“Fauve,” directed by Jeremy Comte; produced by Maria Gracia Turgeon
“Marguerite,” directed by Marianne Farley; produced by Marie-Hélène Panisset
“Mother,” directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen; produced by María del Puy Alvarado
“Skin,” directed and produced by Guy Nattiv; produced by Jaime Ray Newman

Best Foreign Language Film
“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)

Best Film Editing
“BlacKkKlansman,” Barry Alexander Brown
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Ottman
“Green Book,” Patrick J. Don Vito
“The Favourite,” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
“Vice,” Hank Corwin

Best Sound Editing
“Black Panther,” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Warhurst
“First Man,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“A Quiet Place,” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“Roma,” Sergio Diaz and Skip Lievsay

Best Sound Mixing
“Black Panther,” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
“First Man,” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
“Roma,” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García
“A Star Is Born,” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow

Best Production Design
“Black Panther”
Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart

“The Favourite”
Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton

“First Man”
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas

“Mary Poppins Returns”
Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

“Roma”
Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez

Best Original Score
“BlacKkKlansman,” Terence Blanchard
“Black Panther,” Ludwig Goransson
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Nicholas Britell
“Isle of Dogs,” Alexandre Desplat
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

Best Original Song
“All the Stars” from “Black Panther,” song written by Kendrick Lamar, Solana Rowe (SZA), Mark Spears and Anthony Tiffith

“I’ll Fight” from “RBG,” song written by Diane Warren

“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns,” song written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born,” song written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice

“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” song written by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Border,” Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer
“Mary Queen of Scots,” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks
“Vice,” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney

Best Costume Design
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Mary Zophres
“Black Panther,” Ruth E. Carter
“The Favourite,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Queen of Scots,” Alexandra Byrne

Best Visual Effects
“Avengers: Infinity War,” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick

“Christopher Robin,” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould

“First Man,” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm

“Ready Player One,” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk

“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy

2019 Academy Awards: Kevin Hart quits as Oscars host after homophobia controversy; Academy faces another PR disaster

December 6, 2018

by Colleen McGregor

Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart in “Night School” (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures)

Just two days after announcing that he would host the 91st Academy Awards show, Kevin Hart has quit the job after homophobic remarks from his past caused controversy over his hiring. In a series of social-media posts that began on December 6, 2018, Hart admitted that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had pressured him to make a public apology or else they would fire him. Hart says he chose to quit instead. Several of the homophobic remarks that he made on social media have now been deleted.

The 91st Oscars will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which is being produced by Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss. Gigliotti, who won an Oscar with Harvey Weinstein and others for producing 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love,” will be producing the Oscar telecast for the first time. Weiss has been the director of the Oscars telecast for the past several years, and he won an Emmy for it in 2018. The Oscars, like many televised award shows, has faced a steep decline in ratings in recent years. Hart is a popular comedian who has been in several hit movies, and he regularly sells out arenas. His homophobic remarks have been public knowledge for quite some time, ever since he made those comments in 2009 and 2010, but the producers of the Oscars telecast chose to take the risk of hiring him, clearly under-estimating the public outcry that would follow.

Hart said in an Instagram video on December 6, 2018: “My team calls me, ‘Oh my God, Kevin, everyone’s upset by tweets you did years ago. Guys, I’m nearly 40 years old. If you don’t believe that people change, grow, evolve as they get older, I don’t know what to tell you. If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify the past, do you. I’m the wrong guy, man.”

He added, “I chose to pass on the apology. The reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times. This is not the first time this has come up. I’ve addressed it. I’ve spoken on it. I’ve said where the rights and wrongs were. I’ve said who I am now versus who I was then. I’ve done it. I’m not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I’ve moved on and I’m in a completely different place in my life.”

Hart later tweeted: “I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars. This is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. I’m sorry that I hurt people. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love and appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.”

The messy controversy over Hart is yet another embarrassment for the Academy, which in the past few years has had its own share of problems when it comes to accusations of bigotry. In 2015 and 2016, there was backlash against the Academy when all the actors and actress nominated for Oscars were white, which led to to the social media hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. After several media outlets published statistics revealing that the overwhelming majority of Academy members were white men over the age of 50, the Academy made very public efforts to invite more women, people of color and younger people into its membership.

In October 2017, after the Harvey Weinstein scandal hit and the #MeToo movement became a major cultural force, the Academy expelled Weinstein from its membership, but received widespread criticism for letting filmmaker Roman Polanski, a convicted rapist, still be a member of the Academy. Polanski, who still has not served his sentence for the 1977 rape of an underage girl in California, is a fugitive from the law living in Europe. Polanski was eventually expelled from the Academy in 2018, as was Bill Cosby after Cosby was convicted of rape. Polanski received his first Academy Award for directing the 2002 movie “The Pianist,” and received a standing ovation from several Academy members when he was announced as the winner. Polanski was not at the ceremony because he has not been in the U.S. since he fled in 1978.

In March 2018, the Academy faced more controversy when president John Bailey was accused of sexual harassment. A female former colleague alleged that he inappropriately touched her when they worked together. Bailey, who denied the accusation, was cleared in an investigation two weeks later, and he was re-elected president of the Academy in August 2018.

The Academy then had a public-relations misstep in August 2018, when it announced that it was adding a new Oscars category for popular films, but said that it hadn’t been decided yet what the qualifications would be for films to eligible for this category. The announcement was very controversial with most Academy members, who say the decision was largely made by the Academy’s board of directors without letting the Academy members vote on the decision. The idea for a “popular films” category also got a mostly negative reaction from the media and the general public. A month after announcing the decision, the Academy announced that the “popular films” category was indefinitely shelved.

Hart quitting as host of the Oscars isn’t the first time that someone has walked away from the job. In 2011, Eddie Murphy (who also has a history of making homophobic remarks when he was doing stand-up comedy) quit the job of hosting the 2012 Academy Awards, after filmmaker Brett Ratner, who had been hired as the Oscar telecast producer, stepped down for saying a homophobic slur in an interview. Murphy was later replaced by Billy Crystal. (Years later, during the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017, Ratner was accused of sexual harassment by several women, including actress Olivia Munn, who claims that while on a film set, Ratner masturbated in front of her without her consent. Ratner has denied all the allegations, but he has lost several business deals, including with Warner Bros. Pictures and Playboy Enterprises, as a result of the accusations.)

The Murphy/Ratner debacle for the Oscars telecast was years before the rise of the #MeToo movement, and the controversy over Hart shows that the producers of the Oscar telecast have not learned from past mistakes about hiring people who’ve made bigoted remarks, no matter how long ago those remarks were made. Because the Oscars telecast has been losing millions of viewers and because there is more pressure than ever to be a host who can bring in the desired ratings without offending people, it’s no longer as prestigious to host the Oscars as it used to be. Many A-list entertainers don’t want to be under that type of pressure for a dwindling audience.

One thing is clear: Anyone who hosts the Oscars from now on better have a non-offensive background. We are now living in an era where, for many people, it’s not enough for apologies to be made for past bigoted remarks. People are expected to have the type of moral character to not say those hateful comments in the first place. The gray area comes in evaluating how much people are sincerely remorseful for their offensive mistakes, how they have possibly changed for the better to not make the same mistakes, and giving them a chance to prove it.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences cancels idea of ‘popular film’ category

September 6, 2018

by Carla Hay

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfdbCfVdnhY

Just one month after announcing that there would be a new Oscar category for outstanding achievement in popular film, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has canceled plans to add that category, which would have debuted at the 2019 Academy Awards. In a statement, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson essentially admitted that the “popular film” category hadn’t been thought out very well, saying that “we recognize the need for further discussion with our members.” The would-be category was controversial from the beginning, with most of the criticism saying that the new “popular film” category would make box-office revenues part of the criteria to qualify a movie for an Oscar nomination in that category. Because the Academy had not revealed how it would define “popular” films for this category, that vagueness also caused confusion.

Adding to the confusion: The Academy had said that films eligible in the “popular film” category could also be eligible for the Best Picture category.  Critics of the idea didn’t like the probability that the “popular film” category would cause some messy or unfair overlap with hit films that also could be considered for nominations in the Best Picture category.  There was also backlash because adding a “popular film” category at the Oscars would imply that nominations for the Best Picture category shouldn’t be “popular” films.

Here is a press release from the Academy that addresses the decision to drop the idea of the “popular film” category and announces key dates for the 2020 Oscar ceremony:

While remaining committed to celebrating a wide spectrum of movies, the Academy announced today that it will not present the new Oscars category at the upcoming 91st awards. The Academy recognized that implementing any new award nine months into the year creates challenges for films that have already been released.  The Board of Governors continues to be actively engaged in discussions, and will examine and seek additional input regarding this category.

“There has been a wide range of reactions to the introduction of a new award, and we recognize the need for further discussion with our members,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.  “We have made changes to the Oscars over the years—including this year—and we will continue to evolve while also respecting the incredible legacy of the last 90 years.”

Changes to the 91st Oscars (2019) include restructuring and shortening the length of the telecast to three hours.  To honor all 24 award categories, six to eight categories will be presented live, in the Dolby Theatre®, during commercial breaks. The winning moments will then be edited and aired later in the broadcast.  Selected categories will be rotated each year.  The Academy will collaborate with the show producer(s) to select these categories.

The Board of Governors also voted to move up the date of the 92nd Oscars telecast to Sunday, February 9, 2020, from the previously announced February 23. The date change in the timeline will not affect awards eligibility dates or the voting process.

The key dates for the 2019 awards season are as follows:

Saturday, November 16, 2019 Governors Awards
Thursday, January 2, 2020  Nominations voting opens
Tuesday, January 7, 2020  Nominations voting closes
Monday, January 13, 2020  Oscar Nominations Announcement
Monday, January 27, 2020  Oscar Nominees Luncheon
Thursday, January 30, 2020  Finals voting opens
Tuesday, February 4, 2020  Finals voting closes
Sunday, February 9, 2020  92nd Oscars

Starting in 2020, the Scientific and Technical Awards will move to June, as the technologies honored do not represent achievements within a specific awards year.

The 91st Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences adds new category for ‘popular films’ and drops some categories from Oscar telecast

August 8, 2018

by Carla Hay

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced some big changes to the annual Oscar ceremony:

  • A new category for outstanding achievement in popular film will be added, beginning with the 91st annual Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 2019. The Academy says that it will announce at a later date what its rules and regulations are for the new “popular film” category, but the Academy said that movies in this new category will also be eligible for the category of Best Picture.
  • Some categories will be dropped from the Oscar telecast, and the prizes for those categories will be given out during commercial breaks. The winners of the dropped categories will be listed sometime during the telecast. This change will also go into effect for the 2019 Oscar ceremony. The Academy says it will announce at a later date which categories are being dropped from the telecast. ABC has the U.S. telecast of the Oscars.
  • The Academy will strictly enforce a three-hour time limit for the Oscar telecast. In the past, the Oscar telecast has almost always gone past three-and-a-half hours, while some Oscar telecasts have been four hours or longer.
  • The date for the 92nd annual Academy Awards has been moved up from Feb. 23 to Feb. 9, 2020. The earlier date means that the Grammys and other award shows in Los Angeles that usually take place in February before the Oscars will be affected and will probably have to move the dates of their award shows too.

The changes come at a time when ratings for the Oscars have been steadily declining in recent years. The 2018 Academy Awards was the lowest-rated Oscar telecast so far, with 26.5 million U.S. viewers.

Ratings for other major award shows (for example, the Grammys, Emmys and Tonys) have been declining too. There are many theories for why TV audiences have been less interested in these award shows, including an over-saturation of award shows, as well as more competition for viewers’ attention by streaming services such as Netflix. Many people on the Internet have also said they don’t like watching award shows in recent years because of political comments that people make on stage.

With the Oscars, declining ratings have also been blamed on the fact that, in recent years, most of the winners in the biggest categories are from independent films that are not in wide release or are not big hits. The trend toward independent films winning Best Picture over major-studio blockbusters began at the 1999 Oscars, when “Shakespeare in Love” won over “Saving Private Ryan.”

That trend was repeated in subsequent Oscar ceremonies, with independent films winning Best Picture, while major-studio films that were bigger hits at the box office would usually win in the lower-profile technical categories. Consider the Oscars won by “The Hurt Locker” vs. “Avatar” in 2010; “The King’s Speech” vs. “Inception” in 2011; “12 Years a Slave” vs. “Gravity” in 2014; “Spotlight” vs. “Mad Max: Fury Road” in 2016; and “The Shape of Water” vs. “Dunkirk” in 2018. All were nominated for Best Picture in those years, but independent films have dominated the winners’ list for Best Picture for the past two decades, and that trend doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

The Academy expanded the maximum number of films that could be nominated for Best Picture from five to 10 (effective with the 2010 Oscar ceremony), in an effort to bring more diversity to its Best Picture nominees.  However, that diversity didn’t really happen when it comes to certain genres of films. Comedies, horror movies and animated films are still rarely nominated for Best Picture. Action films and sci-fi films have fared a little better in getting Best Picture nominations since the maximum number of potential Best Picture nominations per year expanded to 10, but drama continues to be the predictable genre of choice to win Best Picture. “The Shape of Water,” although it has fantasy elements, is essentially still a drama film. And it was an independent film that’s in line with the Best Picture winner trend of not being a big, mainstream hit at the box office.

The Academy’s addition of a new Oscar category for “popular films” is an another obvious attempt to give some kind of “best picture” award to movies that are critically acclaimed big hits at the box office, but are typically snubbed for the Best Picture award. This big change to the Oscars is undoubtedly controversial, since many people believe that box-office sales should not be criteria for Oscar nominations. Other people who support this new category would argue that the Oscars are a popularity contest anyway, so this new category is an inevitable recognition in rewarding what is popular with movie-going audiences, not just Academy members.

Whether people like this new category or not, what should be obvious is that adding a new category is not going to bring back the massive ratings that the Oscars used to have. Too much has changed in the entertainment landscape, and the people who have been turned off from watching the Oscars aren’t going suddenly change their minds if a new category is added.

Critics of the Oscar telecast say that the show overall needs to be more entertaining. However, the performance-filled Grammy Awards has plenty of entertainment, and ratings for the Grammys are still declining. The Oscar telecast, just like any show on a broadcast network, has to face reality that it can no longer command the audience size it used to have because there are too many other options on what to watch.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president John Bailey at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on February 5, 2018. (Photo by Matt Prtit/ ©A.M.P.A.S.

In other Academy news, cinematographer John Bailey has been elected to a second four-year term as president of the Academy. This is also Bailey’s 15th year as a governor representing the Cinematographers Branch. In addition, the Academy has elected these officers to its Board of Governors:

  • Lois Burwell, First Vice President (chair, Awards and Events Committee)
    • Sid Ganis, Vice President (chair, Museum Committee)
    • Larry Karaszewski, Vice President (chair, Preservation and History Committee)
    • Nancy Utley, Vice President (chair, Education and Outreach Committee)
    • Jim Gianopulos, Treasurer (chair, Finance Committee)
    • David Rubin, Secretary (chair, Membership and Administration Committee)

Burwell, Gianopulos, Rubin and Utley were re-elected. Ganis, who returned to the board this year, served as Academy president from 2005-2009. Karaszewski is a first-time Academy board member.

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