It’s not the best time to be comparing anything in Hollywood to the federal government, but bear with me: For some Oscar-related things, the best way to understand it is by thinking about the United States overall.
As I discuss with fellow awards reporter Tyler Coates on this special Saturday edition of the Prestige Junkie podcast, that’s an especially helpful way to think about the Academy’s shortlists, announced for 10 different Oscar categories earlier this week. Why is there a shortlist for makeup but not for costumes? Why does the original score shortlist have no fewer than 20 options?
It’s because each branch of the Academy, like each state in our country, gets to make some of their own rules — and bring their own quirks to the process. As Tyler and I discuss, there are things you can expect every year based on certain branches and their past history. The documentary branch, though it avoided a major snub scandal this year, tends to lean harder on smaller, more topical films. The music branch will always, always include Diane Warren on the original song shortlist.
International feature, though voted on by members from any Academy branch who actually agree to watch the submissions, may be the quirkiest of all and subject to a whole other set of independent rules, as each country has its own process for determining their submission. That’s how you get a hugely acclaimed film like India’s All We Imagine As Light out of the running, or the Iranian drama The Seed of the Sacred Figsubmitted from Germany.
So why should anyone but the most devoted Oscar obsessives pay attention to any of this? Because the Oscar shortlists contain hints about what the broader Academy might go for, from what looks like strong support for Emilia Pérez to the battle between technical spectacles Wicked, Gladiator II and Dune: Part Two. Tyler and I break it all down, and what we think we’ve learned from this year’s unpredictable Oscar race.
One more programming note: The podcast will continue to publish as usual over the holidays, including interviews with two Golden Globe nominees. And we’ll have another bonus Saturday episode on Jan. 4, in which The Ankler’s founder Richard Rushfield and I share some of our highlights from the year that was. Subscribe here to be notified in your feed. See you then!
Big Spec Script Sales Are Back, Baby! It’s not quite a Shane Black-1990s frenzy, reports Nicole LaPorte, but the industry is growing allergic to big packages — and writers (seriously!) are cashing in
Christmas Coal for 6 Producers A24, LeBron and the Hollywood players who don’t justify their paydays or valuations, says Entertainment Strategy Guy
