Uncertainty Surrounds Academy Awards
Producers prepping ceremony on a wing and a prayer.
Now that the writers' strike has reduced the Golden Globes from a glitzy champagne dinner to a press conference, the clock is ticking for the 80th Annual Academy Awards, scheduled for February 24.
Will the show go on? What will it look like? Everyone has questions, but -- as The Hollywood Reporter makes clear -- nobody has any answers. The Reporter describes the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as "quietly making plans" for the awards, but without writers, the show's producers have their work cut out for them. The Academy's executive director, Bruce Davis, admitted as much in the following quote:
"I'm not going to cite odds, but our hope is we can work something out or that the strike is resolved in time. The major change from last year is that in a normal year, we'd have assembled a staff of writers, and they would have been working on the show for more than a month."
The article even goes so far as to say that the scheduled host, Jon Stewart, is "expected to be on hand" Oscar night -- but that if he opts out, producers "have no plan B in place."
It isn't all gloom and doom for the Oscars. The Reporter points out that the show's request for a waiver from the Writers Guild will be based around the fact that the Academy owns the Awards and licenses the show to ABC, much the same way Worldwide Pants owns The Late Show with David Letterman. Also working in the Academy's favor is producer of this year's Oscars:
Personal relations also could come into play: Gil Cates, one of the DGA's lead negotiators, is producing this year's Oscar show. And in the interest of solidarity, he could argue that the WGA should grant the Academy a waiver just as it did for the SAG Awards.
Ultimately, if the Academy's overtures fail, the show's planners will be forced to decide whether it's better to postpone the Oscars or ask attendees to cross picket lines on their way in -- a question that, as the producers of the Golden Globes recently learned, might not have any truly satisfactory answers.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Will the show go on? What will it look like? Everyone has questions, but -- as The Hollywood Reporter makes clear -- nobody has any answers. The Reporter describes the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as "quietly making plans" for the awards, but without writers, the show's producers have their work cut out for them. The Academy's executive director, Bruce Davis, admitted as much in the following quote:
"I'm not going to cite odds, but our hope is we can work something out or that the strike is resolved in time. The major change from last year is that in a normal year, we'd have assembled a staff of writers, and they would have been working on the show for more than a month."
The article even goes so far as to say that the scheduled host, Jon Stewart, is "expected to be on hand" Oscar night -- but that if he opts out, producers "have no plan B in place."
It isn't all gloom and doom for the Oscars. The Reporter points out that the show's request for a waiver from the Writers Guild will be based around the fact that the Academy owns the Awards and licenses the show to ABC, much the same way Worldwide Pants owns The Late Show with David Letterman. Also working in the Academy's favor is producer of this year's Oscars:
Personal relations also could come into play: Gil Cates, one of the DGA's lead negotiators, is producing this year's Oscar show. And in the interest of solidarity, he could argue that the WGA should grant the Academy a waiver just as it did for the SAG Awards.
Ultimately, if the Academy's overtures fail, the show's planners will be forced to decide whether it's better to postpone the Oscars or ask attendees to cross picket lines on their way in -- a question that, as the producers of the Golden Globes recently learned, might not have any truly satisfactory answers.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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| Movie: | Awards Tour 2007 |
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| Gilbert Cates |
(1-20 of 43 posts) | Reply
on Jan 09 2008 05:46 AM Looks like we've finally seen the true power of this strike. Hopefully they can resolve this issue, but I have a bad felling about this. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 09 2008 06:12 AM It can go two ways I think. They will resolve the strike just in time for the Oscars on a cliffhanger finish, and put on a great show that no one expects.... or the strike isn't resolved and the oscars could end up like the globes. But since interest in the oscars has diminished slightly in recent years, it will be interesting just how much not having it might re-invigorate it for the future, if you know what i mean? (Reply to this) |
on Jan 09 2008 06:19 AM sorry but i couldn't careless about the Oscars. they lost all credibility when Halle Berry won and alot of the winners it seems is just a popularity contest and not based on actual talent. the show is a waste of time as well with only like 5 minutes worth of TV thats watchable. aaaaaand one less chance to see Joan Rivers and hear her annoying 2ss voice...is good news to me. do a big internet listing, have the actors YOUTUBE their acceptance speech...and get the "oscar nominated actor...actress..." commercials that we're bombarded with days after this show on their way already. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 07:15 AM If you had asked the suits this summer if they thought the globes and oscars would be cancelled, they would have laughed in your face. now they're peeing in their pants. this is really rich. to me, nothing would be bigger than the strikers destroying oscar night. And if the actors stood by them on the globes, i can't see them bailing on the writers come academy time. If some of the actors did try to cross the lines and get into the show (assuming it even happens), it would make for the most entertaining red carpet experience ever. If they were allowed to, those writers would be scripting this entire thing as it unfolded. now THAT'S a movie. too bad they can't jot anything down. With the mounting awkwardness of ad-libbed Conan and "A Daily Show," haulted film and TV productions and now an upstaging (or de-staging) of Hollywood's biggest nights, the suits' choice has become pretty clear: Give the writers what they deserve and MOVE ON WITH LIFE (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 08:09 AM What would be great is to see a stripped-down version of an Oscar ceremony, where they would just present the awards and the memorial for the deceased entertainers of 2007, and cut all the bull**** that makes the Oscars go for four hours. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 08:21 AM Maybe the show will only last an hour, instead of an 8 hour waste-of-my-time tripe. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 08:23 AM dahl, i personally don't think there's a difference in Late Night with Conan...i mean god, did you see some of the episodes when there WERE writers?? it was quieter than an SNL skit sometimes in the audience. he's funny but some of the "written" stuff is absolutely horrible. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 08:43 AM They should do it all with celebrity impersonators. How funny would that be? (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 08:46 AM As much as I enjoy watching the oscars, the writers do need to do what they can to shut down these award shows to put pressure on the studios. ABC has received 80 MILLION dollars in advertising income for the oscars. NBC would have made about 25 million on the globes, but they are already negotiating with advertisers about refunding some or all of that. This is one area where the writers have some real leverage, I can't blame them for taking advantage of it. Especially when the actors want the same things and support the writers - it was a HUGE move on their part to agree not to cross picket lines. If none of the stars show up, the show is basically dead. While I'll be somewhat sad if the oscars don't happen, I'm perfectly willing to accept that if it means the strike endds sooner and it gets the writers what they deserve. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 09 2008 09:07 AM Critics Choice awards were terrible, I don't know if the host was just not funny or if nobody had written anything. After 15 minutes of him I fast-fowarded to the good parts. I know it doesn't compare to the Oscars, but it showed how much it suffered as a result of the strike. Daniel Day-Lewis's acceptance speech was probably the only good part about the whole show, and many people weren't there to accept their awards, likely because they were supporting the strike. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 09 2008 10:37 AM here's a good question - does the entertainment industry really need to indulge itself with these pointless award shows? (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 10:44 AM I certainly could care less if the Oscars were cancelled. How can you possibly have an awards show longer than the actual movies it's awarding? Last year's was boring and stale as three-month old bread. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 10:53 AM "does the entertainment industry really need to indulge itself with these pointless award shows?" No, they don't. But as long as people keep tuning in in droves, they'll keep doing them. The oscars are usually the second most watched broadcast of the year, after the superbowl. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 11:10 AM Please! It's going to happen and everyone will be there! (Reply to this) |
on Jan 09 2008 11:36 AM HA I'm loving this strike :P I could care less about the Globes and the Oscars. I hope the Oscars get canceled too, then the writers could be in position to actually getting something out of this strike. I still hope they can cause more havoc in Hollywood though. Maybe it will change things and we might get better movies :) (Reply to this) |
on Jan 09 2008 11:40 AM At least we'll know something good has come of the strike. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 11:46 AM A "Plan B" if Jon Stewart backs out? Who is it, a muppet? (Reply to this) |
on Jan 09 2008 11:47 AM I have to agree that I've lost pretty much all interest in the Oscars. Ratings for it have been declining for years now. I agree with many other comments here and elsewhere that Hollywood giving Hollywood awards to actors and films that were seen be three people in an art house in Seattle is hardly exciting to me. They throw out some film that was released a month before the Oscar due date, does $35 in box office, critics rave and hand them an Oscar. Meanwhile you're sitting at home thinking, "What?- did they just give an Oscar to that guy from the Subway commercials?" (Reply to this) |
on Jan 09 2008 12:24 PM Well, *I'm* one of those movie guys who needs the Oscars. And by need I mean want very badly. :| I hope everything works out...! (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 09 2008 12:53 PM I agree with you FloorMan... but hey... bigbrother's impersonators idea is just a little toooo AWESOME! that would be so funny. But seriously... it would be a shame to stop the oscars cause then i couldn't have the anual gambling party at my house (at least... it wouldn't be as fun!) I won most of last year. Everybody said Helen Mirren wouldn't win and they were WRONG and i was rich. ;) plus, i really need my yearly dose of oscars. If i don't get it... who knows what might happen....... I might just go out and gore some writer through the heart with his own picket stake!!!!! (but that would be mean.... ) (Reply to this) |
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