Steven Spielberg has been the most powerful voice yet to express his opposition to the Motion Picture Academy's contentious plan to relocate the presentation of eight categories to an hour before the main ABC Oscar program begins at 5 p.m. PT on March 27.
Spielberg, a three-time Oscar winner who is not only nominated for Best Picture and Director this year but also serves on the Academy's Board of Governors, told me in an exclusive interview following a screening of West Side Story on the Fox lot on Sunday that he felt compelled to make a statement.
"I disagree with the executive committee's choice," I feel very strongly that this is perhaps the most collaborative medium in the world. All of us make movies together, we become a family where one craft is just as indispensable as the next,” the 19-time Oscar nominee and Thalberg Award winner told me. “I feel that at the Academy Awards there is no above the line, there is no below the line. All of us are on the same line bringing the best of us to tell the best stories we possibly can. And that means for me we should all have a seat at the supper table together live at 5.”
That of course is a reference to the actual ABC broadcast start time. The Academy has announced plans, though, to present eight categories beginning at 4 p.m. at the Dolby. As AMPAS president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson told me in an exclusive interview last week, they plan to give the nominees and winners in those categories the full Oscar experience while also being pre-recorded for a telecast edited version of the category and winner’s speech in an effort to try and save time and keep the show to three hours. Those categories are Production Design, Sound, Original Music Score, Makeup and Hairstyling, Film Editing, Documentary Short, Live Action Short, and Animated Short.
"We all get together to make magic, and I'm unhappy that we won't be able to witness it happen live on television." Everyone will get their turn in the spotlight. All of the winners will be able to be displayed with their acceptance speeches, but the idea is that we won't all be there at the same time," he added, referring to the moment when the envelopes are opened for the first time as the 15 other categories are presented to the TV audience.
The Academy intends to announce the winners of those eight categories on social media as they are announced, so they will be known before the ABC broadcast. That's similar to how the Tonys and Grammys work (the Emmys have their own category).
"Yes, but I have tremendous regard for my other governors, and I have tremendous respect for David Rubin," he remarked, emphasizing the latter in reference to his Academy colleagues while noting that this proposal was initially proposed in 2019. "Three years earlier, the same thing was on the verge of happening, but at the eleventh hour, a decision was taken to reverse it, and four categories that had been in commercial breaks were returned on the live broadcast." I'm hoping for a turnaround, but I'm not expecting one and am not hopeful about it."
When I questioned Rubin last week if this decision was set in stone or if it could be changed, he emphasized his opinion that it would be a positive decision. “I can’t imagine that we’re not going to deliver the Oscar experience that both the nominees and the audience have been wanting and are dreaming about,” he said. “We feel really good about this plan. It feels inclusive and respectful and celebratory.”
