A week after Will Smith’s actions tarnished the 2022 Academy Awards, there were no new reports regarding the Best Actor winner and his eventual reprimand from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Oscars’ co-host Amy Schumer caused some rumblings over a stand-up set referring to the now-infamous night, but there wasn’t much else in the way of news related to The Slap. And considering the story was, as expected, a focus of “Saturday Night Live” and the Grammy Awards over the weekend, it was a welcome relief to not hear about it or be forced to talk about it for at least one day. We’ll see how long that lasts.
READ MORE: Will Smith apologizes while Academy announces formal review
Sadly, the event overshadowed massively historic wins for “CODA” (a truly throw-the-statistics-out-the-window win). Troy Kotsur and distributor Apple TV+, the first streamer to win Best Picture (we think the Academy thought of the movie more as a Sundance indie than a streamer flick, but that’s a conversation for another time). Ariana DeBose became the first publicly out queer woman to win an Academy Award and both she and fellow winner Jessica Chastain gave incredibly moving speeches that got lost in the controversy. Most disappointingly, Questlove and his producing team for “Summer of Soul” were the forgotten victims of the night, accepting a massively deserved Oscar trophy while most of the Dolby Theater audience scoured twitter trying to determine if what they saw was a bit or not (spoiler: it wasn’t).
Generating more discourse over that unfortunate moment is not the point of our commentary today, however. Nor are we going to focus our energies on how the Board of Governors will deal with ABC and their future producing teams after demoting eight categories to a pre-show taping did almost nothing to shorten the broadcast (the publicly stated goal). Either ABC and the Academy will realize linear television has collapsed outside of NFL games or they won’t. There is no panacea to restore Oscar ratings to their former glory. It is what it is.
What we are ready for is reflecting on the season overall and some new rules studios (and, um, media) need to consider in the immediate years to come as well as some oldies that are arguably more relevant than ever. So, keeping all that in mind…
Reminder: It’s the movie, silly
No matter what, it’s always the movie. It’s never just the campaign. A film either plays with guild and AMPAS members or it doesn’t. You simply can’t make the voters love a Best Picture winner. They either do or they don’t. And, most of the time, it’s just their own taste and personal preference. That being said, campaigns still need to get said voters to watch deserving contenders earlier rather than later. But more on that in a minute.
The art-house hit Best Picture contender will return
You can see with the post-Omnicron success of “Everything Everywhere All At Once” that moviegoers are starting to return to the art house outside of Los Angeles and New York. Moreover, the opening of “The Lost City” demonstrates that women over 25, a key art house demo, are making their way back to theaters as well. Of course, it would help if there was another late spring art house hit to drive summer and early fall moviegoing, but based on release dates that may simply have to wait until the fall for indies to make their mark.
Awards Season does not need the Golden Globes (or the Critics Choice either)
We won’t wade into the nitty-gritty of attacks on the HFPA over the past 12 months. There were a lot of valid criticisms lobbied at and, frankly, a lot of just tearing down of the organization after last year’s Golden Globes ceremony. The HFPA has made substantial changes, but if you speak to anyone in the industry on either the content or awards side no one is clamoring for the NBC telecast to return. It likely will, but this season proved FYC campaigning can do just fine without using Golden Globe nominations as a selling point. Decades ago, the Globes provided a laundry list of movies that AMPAS members needed to see before they voted. Awards coverage has evolved tremendously since then and, frankly, voters have more prestigious honors in the mix to remind them what they need to see. Unfortunately, the Critics Choice Awards aren’t a viable option. Somehow it still has an “everyone makes the cut” approach with too many categories and members appearing to vote for the movies they “think” they should win because of the Oscars instead of what “should” win. Seriously, how many Critic’s Choice voters do you think really saw more than one of the Best Foreign Language or the Documentary nominees? I’m not convinced most of them even saw all 10 of the Best Picture contenders and “most” of them cover the movies for a living.
Let’s not go overboard with employee social media
So, how do we say this gently…publicists, marketing executives, in fact, studio executives, and employees of all kinds, you need to chill on social media. Seriously, it’s all been a bit much over the past six months. Social Media has been around for over 15 years and we’ve never had a season of instastories, retweets, and corporate flag-waving hype like this one. There have been very smart people simply retweeting random user tweets about said performance or a film in their stable for weeks on end. It’s gotten so bad you often wonder, “Is this executive’s career on the line if this movie doesn’t get a Best Picture nomination?” Two rival executives even got into a back and forth over one of their films in the worst possible twitter way. This strategy doesn’t help any film break through the clutter and verged on cringeworthy. Another distributor had a gigantic jump in the number of employees posting about their films on Instagram. So, much so that you had to consider that this was some sort of company directive (to be fair, we have no evidence it was). Listen, no one is suggesting employees can’t be proud of the films and performances their studio has championed or they are working on, but when it crosses the line into stan-culture it’s going to be off-putting to press, guild members, and, yes, the rare AMPAS member with a social media presence.
Reminder: Twitter is not the Academy
Speaking of social media, remember, Twitter is not the Academy! Yes, there are some influential members who discuss what they love and other members who sleuth without tweeting that often. And yes, those influential members are great at getting their peer group or social circle to pay attention to a particular film. That being said, the “it has to be the winner” discourse for “The Power of the Dog” seemed eerily familiar to that of “Roma” and not in a good way. And random film twitter accounts hyping Penelope Cruz as the obvious Best Actress winner wasn’t exactly on target (although to be fair, many members said they voted for her in the days up to the ceremony). There are still not enough AMPAS members on Twitter or even Instagram to judge them as genuine tea leaves. Be careful.
If you don’t position it as a Best Picture nominee from the beginning you’re screwed
Somewhere a Warner Bros. executive is already beginning to plan the Oscar campaign for Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” just as Disney did with Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” around the same time frame three years ago (anyone remember Coogler appearing at Cannes for a special conversation in between its initial release and the start of awards season?). These are the sorts of films that need to be positioned as true Best Picture players with the media and guilds months before the real season starts. MGM/UA provided “No Time To Die” with a better awards season campaign than Sony did for “Skyfall,” although to be fair that was because the MGM regime at the time waited too long to fund it. In both cases, the Bond movies needed to be framed as Best Picture players before they opened in theaters. Doing it following a massive box office success is almost fruitless as demonstrated by the last-minute campaigning for any of the last three “Star Wars” films, “Avengers: Endgame” or “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Even “Avatar” was positioned as something extraordinary months before it hit theaters (the same with “Dune”). This rule can apply to non-blockbuster films as well. We’ll never get over NEON giving “The Worst Person in the World” third position among its contenders when a Best Picture and Best Actress nomination was right there if enough members (let alone media!) had seen it before its February release. The fact it earned an Original Screenplay nod was thanks to members of the Writer’s Branch own viewing habits more than anything else. If ‘Worst’ had been focused as a Best Picture player in the fall, it might have had a much different fate.
It really doesn’t help contenders if pundits love everything
Another trend that reared its head this year in an eyebrow-raising fashion was that of media members, some who cover Oscars and others who do not, simply crowning every film they saw as a Best Picture nominee. In fact, it became slightly embarrassing for those of us who try to take this seriously. For instance, was “King Richard” a slam dunk nominee after its premiere at Telluride? This writer didn’t think so, but that was because a majority of the remaining field had not been seen yet. Eventually, it became clear it would be. Unfortunately, too many of our peers are throwing proclamations out there without giving them a second thought (and we’re not saying some of them work for a particular “trade” but we’re not not saying that either). Obviously, we know the game. Show the film to the press for the first time with a SAG-heavy audience, bring out the stars for a Q&A, and the reaction from the crowd will almost universally be more positive than if it was screened in a standard screening room. The issues are twofold. First, the press needs to look at everything in context and not get swept up in SAG-fueled emotions. Two, studios need to be realistic about what they really have when it comes to a Best Picture nomination. If both sides of the aisle were a bit more level-headed there would be fewer disappointed players on Oscar nomination day (and yes we’re looking at you “House of Gucci”). And, lastly, if it’s the first week of November and you’re a pundit or media member who has already predicted eight films will 100% be Best Picture nominees you seriously need to calm down. You don’t need years of experience to realize the season has gotta breathe.
Reminder: Better to festival premiere than to not
Of the 20 non-short Oscar winners, 16 were from films that debuted at major film festivals. Six of the 10 Best Picture nominees did as well, and the remaining four were never serious contenders to win. Also worth noting, it’s never too early to premiere at Sundance and then hold the release till summer or fall either. So, see you at Cannes?
Studios need to be wary of overextending themselves
We love studios that support filmmakers. Seriously, we really do. That sort of work promotes the art that often gets lost in so many other aspects of the business. If we were religious we’d say it’s god’s work. Unfortunately, no matter how big your staff or how immense your resources are, there is a limit to the amount of attention a film can get from a platform. One studio’s situation this year reminded us of 2010 when Paramount Pictures campaigned for eventual nominees “The Fighter” and “True Grit,” but Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island,” which had been released much earlier in the year, got lost. Or 2014 when they had “Selma,” “Interstellar,” “The Gambler” and “Noah.” It was all too much despite their best efforts. We’re seeing that same scenario play out again with different distributors almost a decade later. And, frankly, perhaps it’s a heads up to filmmakers and producers, more than to the studios themselves.
Oscar’s Original Song selection process needs a serious reboot
Disney Studios didn’t submit what is arguably the song of 2022, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” because they didn’t think the “Encanto” hit would play to the Music branch’s voters and they were afraid that two nominees from a film would cancel each other out. So, instead, they submitted just “Dos Oruguitas” which was, arguably, one of the least memorable songs from the film. “Dos Orguitas” still got nominated, but ‘Bruno”s success didn’t fuel it to a win. Instead, the title track from “No Time To Die,” which won a Grammy a year earlier and had been released for over two years, took the statue. Granted, Billie Eilish is a sensation in the entertainment industry overall, but this conservatism continues to backfire in this category. Plus, why did voters select another Diane Warren song, perhaps her most forgettable in years, to make the cut? One consultant literally told me it’s because the branch members are all her friends and she campaigns hard for their vote. Hey, that’s her right and she’s a songwriting legend, but that shouldn’t happen. How did Warren’s “Somehow You Do” and Van Morrison’s “Down to Joy” get in over The Sparks’ “So May We Start,” “Just Look Up” from “Don’t Look Up” (the best part of the movie), “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” from “Respect” or Jay-Z and Kid Cudi’s “Guns Go Bang”? And those were just other options from the shortlist. Members are clearly not ranking each song in the context of the film itself as they are supposed to. At this point, why not just judge the songs on their overall strengths and get more closing credits tracks (and, cough, hits) into the mix? It’s gotta be better than what the Music branch has set up now.
Reminder: You can’t win if you open in December
No matter whether the Oscars are in February or March, you’re not winning Best Picture if you open in December. “The Shape of Water” is a very rare exception to this rule, but even that drama debuted on Dec. 3. So, the last release stragglers, “West Side Story,” “Being the Ricardos” or “Nightmare Alley“? They never had a chance.
Good news? The Oscar season for 2023 won’t really get started until the Venice, Telluride, and Toronto Film Festivals over four months from now.
