In a move no one saw coming, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the 2021 and 2021 Academy Awards will return to their “traditional” end of February dates. This after an earlier date for next year, February 9, was trumpeted last September as a way to end what was seen as a trend in lower Oscar telecast ratings because of awards season fatigue. That decision seems to have been bizarrely short lived.
READ MORE: Best and Worst of the 2019 Oscars
After making the decision to move to the 9th, AMPAS effectively caused the Berlin Film Festival, the Grammy Awards and numerous other independent events to hop, skip and jump all over a very packed January and February calendar. The Oscars are the big dog and when they land on a date everything but the NFL gets out of their way. And that appears to be partially for the change.
The 93rd Oscars will be held on Feb. 28, 2021. The 94th Oscars will be held on Feb. 27, 2022. According to ABC and the Academy, “Timing of the 2022 Olympics, the Super Bowl and national holidays will keep the 2021 and 2022 dates on the last Sunday in February. The Academy and ABC continue to evaluate dates for future years.”
Well, bless. A junior media planner at an ad agency could have told you that before your announcement in September.
That being said, it’s fantastic news for the other organizations that were put into a panic attack for what appears to be a one-year change. How the Academy and ABC did not see this coming for 2021 and 2022 shows a horrible lack of foresight. Then again, considering we’re still under John Bailey’s watch perhaps it’s not that surprising. Over the last nine months, there was the ridiculous fight for a “popular film” category and the mishandling of hiring Kevin Hart as Oscar host which, surprise, also showed a massive lack of, well, reading the room for one. Bailey’s term ends this summer.
The Academy also announced key dates for the 2019/2020 season. You’ll note voting is just five days from Jan 2-Jan 7, 2020 and the Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan 13, 2020.
Academy key dates for the 2019/2020 awards season are:
Governors Awards Sunday, October 27, 2019
Preliminary Voting Begins Friday, December 6, 2019
Preliminary Voting Ends Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Nominations Voting Begins Thursday, January 2, 2020
Nominations Voting Ends Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Oscar Nominations Announcement Monday, January 13, 2020
Oscar Nominees Luncheon Monday, January 27, 2020
Finals Voting Begins Thursday, January 30, 2020
Finals Voting Ends Tuesday, February 4, 2020
92nd Oscars Sunday, February 9, 2020
As previously announced, the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards have moved to June 2020. Scientific and Technical Awards are given for technologies developed over a period of time and are not specific to a single awards year. Key dates are as follows:
Submissions open Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Submission deadline Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Similar technology open Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Similar technology deadline Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Awards presentation Saturday, June 20, 2020