Academy to clamp down on 'Oscar parties?'

The Hollywood Reporter has the exclusive:

In response to an Oscar season featuring a significant uptick in campaign parties and schmooze-fests, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is preparing to impose new restrictions on lavish festivities.

A proposal for revised regulations, which sources tell The Hollywood Reporter is currently being drafted by an AMPAS committee, still must be approved by the Academy's board of governors, which next meets Aug. 2. But the plan will almost certainly include new restrictions on the number and kind of events that can be thrown, and insiders expect new regulations to be adopted.

"There will be a tightening of the rules, no question," an Academy insider tells THR.

The annual film awards season ritual has long included a gravy train of campaign parties, receptions and "celebrations" designed to court awards voters. But as THR has reported, many industry observers raised eyebrows this past season over the increasingly blatant Oscar campaigning that masqueraded as great parties. "Out of control" is how one awards consultant puts it.

In January, Sony Pictures threw a spare-no-expenses bash at Spago, ostensibly to celebrate the DVD and Blu-ray release of The Social Network but also to court voters during a neck-and-neck race for best picture with The Weinstein Company's The King's Speech. Most DVD launch parties don't feature guests like Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Scott Rudin, Michael DeLuca, David Fincher, and Aaron Sorkin.

There were plenty of King's Speech parties, too, like the one Arianna Huffington threw in February with Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hooper, Oliver Stone, Maria Bello and Jane Lynch. "If you're an Oscar voter, you can pretty much go to a party or reception or some kind of event every night from December until the voting ends," one insider says.

A popular trend this past season was the "third party endorser" party, where a well-liked Hollywood figure would host a reception honoring a close friend whose movie just happened to be in contention for awards. Julia Roberts, for example, hosted a well-timed screening and reception for Biutiful on behalf of her buddy Javier Bardem -- who later landed an Oscar nomination for best actor.

It is not yet clear how strict the new regulations will be. The Academy already outlaws certain gifts, as well as lavish events specifically hosted for voters. But bash-throwers have long skirted the party rules by inviting journalists and other industry insiders to events, and by associating the soirees with guilds or other third parties. The goal this year, says a source close to the discussions, is to limit the number and kind of functions thrown in connection with a specific film (not including screenings), to lessen the impression that voters are being constantly lobbied.

"The complaints from members were up this year," says a source in the Academy. "It was looking like vote-buying, and nobody wants that."

An Academy spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of the plan. "Each year the Academy goes through a process of reviewing regulations to see what, if any, changes should be made," the rep tells THR. "Until that process is complete, we will not comment further."

Regardless, the Academy is likely to impose the most significant change of its campaigning rules since 2003, when the rules were altered from "guidelines" to the gruffer "regulations," with the threat of actually expelling offenders from the organization. Back in 1996, direct-mail advertising to members was banned as a result of over-the-top materials clogging the mailboxes of voters during the 1995-96 campaign.

Already, top awards consultants are buzzing about possible new changes. Any restriction on what's allowed could alter the campaigns—not to mention the entertainment event-planning economy in Los Angeles and, to a lesser extent, New York.

The question is whether any rule can be devised that can't be outwitted when the stakes are high. And Academy sources stress that the goal is not to eradicate awards season parties entirely. "After all," says a source, "we don't want to be perceived as disciplinarians. This is show business."

SAG is moving exclusively to online submissions...

…starting next year, though their official website claims to be encouraging the transition now:

In its continuing effort to adhere to environmentally sound practices, the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® reached out today to more than 1,500 publicists, managers and actors representatives to encourage online submissions of performances for nominations consideration. Submissions opened on July 11 at www.sagawards.org and will close on Thursday, Oct. 27, at 5 p.m. (PST).

Using an appropriately “green” hued emailed flyer, the SAG Awards® explained that while this year submissions forms are still available for download from the SAG Awards website or by calling the SAG Awards office at (323) 549-6707, the 18th Annual SAG Awards are the last for which paper submission forms will be accepted. Those actors or representatives reluctant to submit online are urged to give the process a try, as the SAG Awards will be moving to online submissions exclusively for next year’s 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The required accompanying high-resolution .jpg photos of potential nominees may be emailed to awardsphotos@sagawards.org or mailed to the SAG Awards office on CD or DVD. Early submission is recommended.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards was honored in 2009 and again in 2010 with the Environmental Media Association (EMA)’s Green Seal, recognizing a production’s outstanding efforts to implement sustainable initiatives and promote environmental awareness. The SAG Awards has a long history of using the Internet for credentials, submissions and voting. Twelve years ago it pioneered online-only credentialing for media and publicists. It is offering online submissions for nominations consideration for the ninth year, online voting for the nominating committees for the eight year and online voting for final balloting for the seventh year.

The Screen Actors Guild Award—The Actor®—is presented for outstanding performances in motion pictures and primetime television. Actors may submit their own performances from 2011 for consideration in categories of the actor’s choosing. With the actor’s permission, producers, studios/networks, agents, managers, or publicists may also submit performances for consideration in the category designated by the actor. Nominations for the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.

Of the top industry honors presented to performers, only the Screen Actors Guild Awards are selected entirely by actors’ peers. The nominees for performances in 2011, including the distinctive ensemble awards and SAG stunt ensemble honors, will be chosen by two separate film and television nominating panels, each comprised of 2,100 SAG members from across the United States, who were randomly selected in April. Nomination ballots will be mailed on Wednesday, Nov. 23 and voting closes on Monday, Dec. 12.

After nominations are announced, final SAG Awards voting instructions will be mailed Friday, Dec. 30, 2011 to all active members of Screen Actors Guild. Online voting is encouraged. Final voting paper ballots are available only upon request between Monday, Oct. 3, 2011 and Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. Online votes must be cast or previously-requested paper ballots returned by Friday, Jan. 27 to the Guild’s election firm, where results will be sealed until they are opened onstage at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. The ceremony will be simulcast live from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT, 6 p.m. MT and 5 p.m. PT.

Complete rules and regulations for the 18th Annual SAG Awards are posted at www.sagawards.org/rules.

Curious what the new way of voting for Best Picture will be like?

Of course you are, and The Hollywood Reporter explains it as best they can:

With the "new twist" it is introducing into the best picture Oscar race, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will also adopt a slightly modified nominating procedure to decide the nominees in its top category.

The Academy's board of governors voted Tuesday night to adopt a new rule: having opened the best picture race to 10 nominees two years ago, the Academy is now adopting a stricter standard that will result in anywhere from five to 10 nominees when nominations are announced on Jan. 24.

To secure a nomination, a picture will have collect at least five percent of the first-place votes cast.

That, in turn, affects the nominating process. For the past two years, each Academy member filled out a form, listing their ten best films, in order of preference from one to 10.

This time around, in the case of the best picture ballot, each member will be given a ballot with 5 open slots, which they will be asked to fill in with five movies, again ranked by preference.

As Bruce Davis, the outgoing executive director of the Academy explained: "What we're doing here is analyzing the first-place support."

The vote count, which will be conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, is actually a modified version of the preferential voting system that the Academy already employs.

Here's how it will work in the case of the best picture category.

• First, all the ballots are separated into separate stacks according to which film is listed as a first choice.
• Second, any movies that reach the five percent threshold are automatic nominees. Their stacks are then redistributed to their second or third choices according to a mathmatical formula. Their second or third choices count as partial votes when added to the remaining stacks.
• Third, at the opposite ends of the spectrum, those movies that have received less than one percent of the vote also see their stacks redistributed to their second if still available, or third choice if still available, etc.

At that point, the redistribution stops. The movies that have reached the five percent mark all become nominees.

According to Davis, the accountants, using the vote counts from past years, have worked through various scenarios, and the count results in 5 to ten nominees.

On most ballots, the number one movie carries the real wight, although second and third choices could well come into play. Fourth and fifth choices will play a much more minimal role in the selection process.

"We think this is going to be enjoyable, and maybe more in line with what we hoped to accomplish when we went to ten nominees," Davis said.

The accountants reviewed past votes, going back to see what would have happened using this new approach in the years when only five nominees were chosen. And Davis observed, "It really jumped out at us that while there were films that enjoyed wide support, it was clear there were years where there was not substantial support for ten pictures. So why be obligated to list ten, if the members clearly indicated they preferred 8 pictures? It maintains the honor of being a best-picture nominee."

If the new system had been in effect from 2001 to 2008 (before the expansion to a slate of 10), there would have been years that yielded five, six, seven, eight and nine nominees, the Academy reported.

Interestingly, after PricewaterhouseCoopers did its historical research, it did not tell the Academy's execs which year would have yeilded what number, and it did not identify any films, just identifying them as picture one, picture two, etc. Finally, when it comes time to vote for the best picture Oscar, voters will again rank their favorites among the nominees in order of preference.

-Joey's Two Cents: This does clear up a question or two, but I still disagree with the decision...thoughts?

The Academy changes the rules for Best Picture again!

We'll have more on this later, but for now I'll let the press release speak for itself:

Academy Builds Surprise Into Best Picture Rules

Beverly Hills, CA – The governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted on Tuesday (6/14) to add a new twist to the 2011 Best Picture competition, and a new element of surprise to its annual nominations announcement. The Board voted to institute a system that will now produce anywhere between five and 10 nominees in the category. That number won’t be announced until the Best Picture nominees themselves are revealed at the January nominations announcement.

“With the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we’ve been looking not just at what happened over the past two years, but at what would have happened if we had been selecting 10 nominees for the past 10 years,” explained Academy President Tom Sherak, who noted that it was retiring Academy executive director Bruce Davis who recommended the change first to Sherak and incoming CEO Dawn Hudson and then to the governors.

During the period studied, the average percentage of first place votes received by the top vote-getting movie was 20.5. After much analysis by Academy officials, it was determined that 5% of first place votes should be the minimum in order to receive a nomination, resulting in a slate of anywhere from five to 10 movies.

“In studying the data, what stood out was that Academy members had regularly shown a strong admiration for more than five movies,” said Davis. “A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn’t feel an obligation to round out the number.”

If this system had been in effect from 2001 to 2008 (before the expansion to a slate of 10), there would have been years that yielded 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 nominees.

The final round of voting for Best Picture will continue to employ the preferential system, regardless of the number of nominees, to ensure that the winning picture has the endorsement of more than half of the voters.

Other rules changes approved by the Board include:

In the animated feature film category, the need for the Board to vote to “activate” the category each year was eliminated, though a minimum number of eligible releases – eight – is still required for a competitive category. Additionally, the short films and feature animation branch recommended, and the Board approved, refinements to the number of possible nominees in the Animated Feature category. In any year in which eight to 12 animated features are released, either two or three of them may be nominated. When 13 to 15 films are released, a maximum of four may be nominated, and when 16 or more animated features are released, a maximum of five may be nominated.

In the visual effects category, the “bakeoff” at which the nominees are determined will expand from seven to 10 contenders. The increase in the number of participants is related to a change made last year in which the number of films nominated in the visual effects category was increased from three to five.

Previously, the Board approved changes to the documentary feature and documentary short category rules that now put those categories’ eligibility periods in line with the calendar year and thus with most other awards categories. The change means that for the 84th Awards cycle only, the eligibility period is more than 12 months; it is from September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011.

Other modifications of the 84th Academy Awards rules include normal date changes and minor “housekeeping” changes.

Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for approval.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

-Joey's Two Cents: For now, I'll just say this...I'm not a fan. Thoughts?