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Christopher
Pickard unravels the mysterious machinations of the 6,200-strong
organisation responsible for the annual film spectacular they like
to call the Oscars…
Christopher Pickard unravels the mysterious machinations of the
6,200-strong organisation responsible for the annual film spectacular
they like to call the Oscars…
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The
Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. It sounds so formal
- even powerful and menacing. Yet it remains one of the friendliest
and most efficient of all the Hollywood institutions. While the
Academy is a concrete entity - you can touch the Academy's building
at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles - it is also a living,
breathing body made up of over 6,200 separate and disparate souls
who work or have worked within the motion picture industry.
Of these, approximately 5,500 will have the right to vote for the
Academy Awards covering the year of 1999. Nearly a quarter of these
will be or have been actors by profession. Producers make up roughly
8% of the voting membership and currently just outnumber sound technicians,
writers and studio suits. Directors count for nearly 7% of the overall
voting membership, followed closely by art directors, public relations
directors and members of the short films and animation branch. The
branches are important because at the nomination stage the majority
of the nominations are decided only by a group's peers. So the actors'
vote decides the acting nominations, the directors choose the directors,
and so on. All vote for best film, though.
There are a couple of exceptions to the voting procedure, the most
notable of which is for the Best Foreign Language Film.
Initially the Academy invites countries to submit one film, each
country deciding its own manner of choosing its selected picture.
For some countries it is the winner of a certain award, for others
it is the choice of the national film board or the producers' association.
This year no less than 47 countries submitted films, and since December
they have been screening in Los Angeles for members of the Academy
who wish to be part of the Foreign Language Film Award Committee.
To be part of what is the Academy's largest committee (last year
it numbered more than 450), members have to watch at least half
of all the submitted films before voting for what will be the final
five nominees. To make the voting fair - and to ensure that all
the films get seen by an equal number of members - the committee
is broken into two groups and each is given a set selection of half
of the films to see. Many, however, will choose to watch all 47
films.
The vote for the actual Academy Award for Best Foreign Language
Film is then open to all members of the Academy who attend screenings
of all the five pictures which receive a nomination. The nominations
in all categories are scheduled to be announced in Los Angeles on
15 February 2000, after which the entire voting membership will
be balloted again and asked to vote for all the major award categories.
Final voting closes on Tuesday, 21 March and the winners will be
revealed just five days later on Sunday, 26 March - a quarter of
the way through the next Academy year.
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