Requirements for AMPAS Chiefs Best Picture Addition at New Oscars – Timeline

“These are not pills coming from the mountains,” said the head of Paramount Pictures Jim Giannopoulos He told me this morning to explain how Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Adding and representing new standards for entering the best image race. The controversial new requirements, set to come into full effect by 2024, actually claim to take the industry’s broader pulse. “It was specifically discussed with the industry to get their input and make sure people embrace them. . ”

Gianopoulos, who serves as the treasurer of the academy, was the co-chairman with the producer Dewan Franklin The team that created the new set of four standards that affect all aspects of filmmaking behind the scenes and the camera. Movies must meet at least two out of four to qualify for a Best Picture nomination, from hiring a leading or notable supporting actor to leading creative leadership to the team structure to less representative groups (including women) in areas of employment and opportunity marketing and distribution. But don’t call them quotas. When a longtime academy member called me this morning to lament the changes, I mentioned that his favorite film was the 1953 WWII play. Stolac17 (Paradoxically a Paramount film) would not have qualified, and Gianopoulos did not accept it.

“It’s worth it. We have not completely forgotten about such films 1917 And Dunkirk And other images like that, themed by their very nature, would not otherwise have different figures in front of the camera, so what did the C and D standards (as opposed to the A and B standards) do? ‘Yes’ there are unqualified images on the front of the camera or even on their thematic components, but you can progress by institutionalizing access to industry through internships, guidance, marketing and distribution representation. Purpose. ‘Is this correct?’ That is to say – does each film have different elements by its very nature? Obviously not. But there are other ways to measure progress and make progress, ”he said. “All studios are more or less, but Everyone Focuses on these issues and focuses on the fields of diversity and human resources. I think what this does is, because the academy offers some objective standards at the highest levels of the industry so we can all measure our progress. That is the purpose, and they must both be ambitious and objective. ”

There have been more than 250 comments (so far) to the story I posted yesterday on the Deadline announcing the new venture, many of which are negative. The reaction in the industry has been mixed, but some have strongly opposed the new changes. In a deleted tweet, actress Kirsty Ali called them “a disgrace to artists everywhere”. Franklin said the setback from some corners was not unexpected.

“We expected this. Whenever you implement change it comes with dialogue, it comes with conflict, it’s going to be considered, so we’m not surprised,” Franklin said when I asked for his opinion on the reaction on social media. “In fact when people take a moment and read the standards, so much. When we see flexibility, we think it really helps to let them know how they see it. It’s easy to react when you read a title, but when it really comes down to standards, filmmakers and studios and many big distributors really have a lot of flexibility to use it Improving Creative process. It does not control it. ”

I pointed out one of the comments posted to the original Deadline story from a black filmmaker. It said: “I am black and I have a deep belief in telling different stories, but this is the tumbest, most anti-art idea I have ever heard. The abysmal deep state hates me here! Good job destroying the experience of any lesser person (s) who won the Oscar for Best Picture After 2025 and anyone who wants to make a movie the way they want to make a movie! Don’t talk about being inclusive, just be about it. You do not have to request it with reservations !!!! The academy should be ashamed! ”

Franklin faced that criticism. “We expected to have conversations with people with different perspectives. What can I say to that black man who wrote that the Oscars will be even more so after 2024, 2025? The academy is over 90 years old. Is in the company, so we hope it will replace it, so this award makes sense if anything after 2025 Further, Because that would have been given in consideration, ”he said. “It’s not about tokenism, it’s not about control, it’s about Adding, about this Excellent, about this Qualification. It’s about getting everyone equal feedback on their art. The thing about it is that we are going to be one of its best accessory products, with many of the best artists, especially color, being unrecognized in front of the camera and behind the camera. We hope this will change. My black hope is that this black filmmaker will be a part of this process, monitoring and acting, and this is really a positive step in the right direction, and will add more meaning. There is nothing less meaningful than doing the same job, but there is nothing worse than it because your skin color is different or you belong to a group that you have not traditionally represented. So we try to fix it, we do. “

The phone conversation will also include the AMPAS president David Rubin And AMPAS CEO Don Hudson, Guarded team moves late and necessary. “The creative community focuses on social, general, and of course inclusion and diversity. By being a member of the academy and influencing filmmaking, it is an attempt to give some definition and make actionable progress, ”said Gianopoulos.

Some academy members we asked mentioned that they had not been asked Their Input, but Rubin feels the system is fully represented. “The team members have been selected by their respective branches and have been entrusted with the task of guarding the work of the academy. We are always in touch with our branch members and the focus of the Board is serious. The team is made up of artists and artisans and they have brought all of those experiences to bear the input of stakeholders across the industry and I would like the member to appreciate that entry and I think they will see themselves in the decision we make, ”he said.

Hudson noted that the British Film Institute standards added in 2016 were a template used by AMPAS, but modified it to suit its own needs. They currently work with teams such as the BFI and the Producers Guild to figure out how to process letters and implement new requirements. But he says none of this is new to members of the academy. “All the members of the academy are through film production. Our members want the opportunity for more training, from the moment they start writing a film, to the opportunity to act in a film, to produce and distribute a film, to send the wide web across the industry. Our members have always been involved in that process,” he said. He particularly stressed why it is important for AMPAS to take a more serious stance on the journey to industry diversity.

Although the document outlining the new standards is very specific, it does not use the word “qualification” when talking about hiring fewer people. This is a word that the Academy has always emphasized when talking about diversifying their own members, and ensuring that they meet the established standards that must be present at AMPAS. I asked Franklin, the producer of such optimistic successes Miracles from heaven And Breakthrough, About words.

“Why should it always be an adjective? For some reason people think historically, when we talk about giving people an equal view, it somehow makes sense. Reduction Standards. It was a deliberate move. We did not lower the standard and we did not feel the need to qualify for adjectives. Of course the academy only recognizes and recognizes excellence Qualification So, why should we use that verb to describe less representative artists who do not have an equal chance of inclusion? We felt it was trivial and underestimated, so we wanted to stand on what it was about and as a result the word was not intentionally mentioned because it refers to everything about us, ”he said.

Gyanobulos said they were looking into the results of their efforts, adding that further action would be taken in this regard. “It’s a continuous process in the sense of continuing to evaluate the response to standards in the filmmaking community, and the progress they make and the improvements they represent,” he said, adding a great deal of confidence to the epidemic-affected industry. “We’re all going to work. Hopefully.”