Academy Awards will now require voters to actually watch the nominated movies
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a slate of new rules and promotional regulations that will go into effect for next year’s 98th Oscars.
At least one of the changes will have people raising their eyebrows. Under the new rules, Academy members will now be required to watch all the nominees within a category in order to be eligible to vote in the final round.
This will likely come as a shock to those who assumed Oscar voters were already watching all the movies before voting on them, but until now, they didn’t have to see any of them, let alone all.
To enforce the new rule, the Academy will take a cue from Bafta, wherein voters will only be able to access the final round ballots for each category once they have confirmed that they’ve seen all the nominees.
Through its members-only streaming portal, the Academy will be able to track viewing activity to determine whether voters are following through with their end of the bargain. Members can also submit forms stating which films they’ve seen outside of the portal, such as at festivals and screenings.
Another key rule change involves the use of artificial intelligence. The Academy states that the use of AI and other digital tools will neither help nor hinder a film’s eligibility, but that voters should be “taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award” (via Variety).
As of next year, there will also be a new awards category at the Oscars: ‘Best Achievement in Casting.’ Many awards ceremonies, including Bafta, already have the category, and it’s been an expectation for years that the Academy would finally add it to its roster.
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