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Oscars Winners, Film Professionals Pen Letter Urging Academy to Reverse Decision to Not Live Telecast Certain Categories

Over 70 prominent film professionals, including several Oscar winners and nominees, have written an open letter addressed to the Academy, urging it to reverse its controversial decision to leave out eight categories from the main Oscars event on March 27.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

“For nearly a century, the Academy Awards has represented the gold standard in recognising and honouring all of the essential crafts in filmmaking. Now, as we approach the Oscars’ 100th year, we are deeply troubled that this gold standard is being tarnished by valuing some filmmaking disciplines over others and relegating those others to the status of second-class citizen,” the letter read.

The eight categories which are to be cut from the live event at the Dolby Theatre are Documentary (Short Subject), Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Production Design, Short Film (Animated), Short Film (Live Action), and Sound. These awards will instead be presented before the main event, with the statements of the winners recorded and then edited and merged with the live broadcast.

Following the announcement, several nominees and technician guilds have expressed their disappointment, including the International Cinematographers Guild, Board of Directors of the American Cinema Editors, and this year’s nominees like Jane Campion and Steven Spielberg.

While one of the nominees called the move “disrespectful,” President of the Academy David Rubin and Academy Chief Executive Dawn Hudson have defended the move and said that all honourees will be treated with respect.

“I can’t imagine that we’re not going to deliver the Oscar experience that both the nominees and the audience have been wanting and are dreaming about. We feel really good about this plan. It feels inclusive, respectful and celebratory,” Rubin told Deadline in an interview last week.

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The open letter addressed to Rubin on Wednesday has been signed by Oscar winners such as filmmakers James Cameron and Guillermo del Toro. It urged the Academy “in the strongest possible terms” to reverse its controversial plan.

With the Original Score being among the categories set to be cut, nearly half the signatories of the letter were composers, including Oscar winners such as Alexandre Desplat, Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and John Williams.

“Critical artistic crafts like music scoring, film editing, production design, makeup, hairstyling and sound will always deserve the same respect and recognition as crafts like acting, directing and visual effects,” the letter said.

“To diminish any of these individual categories in the pursuit of ratings and short-term profits does irreparable damage to the Academy’s standing as impartial arbiters and responsible stewards of our industry’s most important awards,” it added.