Here is a thorough rundown of the cinema awards season called “Road to the Oscars.”
Arrival of awards season, the most exciting time of the year for movie buffs has begun even if the holiday season is passed. The film business has its own calendar that culminates with the Academy Awards, much like the financial year does not always correspond with the calendar year. The Oscars are scheduled to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 10 this year. Hollywood’s elite will walk the red carpet in an attempt to win the shining gold man and be recognized as the greatest in their respective industries.
The significance of prizes
Not only does receiving an Oscar mean getting a gold star in the classroom; the winner’s career path may benefit from a number of long-term benefits. This also applies to simply receiving a nomination, but to a lesser degree. First off, when a film receives an award, it may contribute to a rise in the film’s overall earnings. For the streaming rights or the licensing rights on other platforms (TV, airlines, etc.), studios may charge a premium. Second, it helps elevate the winner’s visibility overall. With the quality mark of “Academy Award Nominee/Winner,” they may now appear on wish lists for more projects and go out and audition or pitch their ideas.
What’s needed to take home an honor
There are no shortcuts or simple routes to the Oscars. Similar to how the skill sets needed to develop a film differ greatly from those needed to make it successful (distribution, marketing, etc.), winning an award calls for a whole different set of abilities. A large cottage industry of “awards” consultants exists, with their specialization being in positioning, campaigning, and achieving victory in awards. These companies employ a three-pronged approach: distribution, marketing, and public relations. It’s a carefully calibrated science that can begin with the very first audition or festival showing and pick up speed during award season, hopefully culminating in real gold statuettes on the grandest night of them all.
The Oscars
The season officially starts with the Golden Globes, which are the first major televised awards event of the year, even though the best films of the previous year have already begun to be recognized and appreciated with smaller awards ceremonies like the Gotham Awards and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards at the end of last year. The Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes are the two major film and television awards that are presented on January 7th of this year. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes’ governing organization, has been under fire in recent years for unethical and discriminatory behavior. The awards have also had their own reckoning. This is the first year the Globes are run by a new leadership after the HFPA was dissolved last year.
There is much open competition.
Regarding the selection of films that will make up the major victors on Oscar night, there is already widespread agreement. But as the season goes on, the competition will heat up. Early favorites like Barbie and Oppenheimer may lose favor, while latecomers like Saltburn and Maestro will vie for viewers’ attention. And there’s always room for an unexpected winner, like the German-language All Quiet on the Western Front, which emerged from nowhere to win four Oscars and garner nine nominations. The Spanish-speaking Society of the Snow is vying for that position this year.
Even though the Academy and Globe voting bodies are separate, the results nonetheless reflect the choices of the industry as a whole and indicate the general direction of opinion. The separate guilds, such as the DGAs, PGAs, and WGAs, which represent directors, producers, and writers, respectively, are largely responsible for choosing the other precursor prizes that are given out later in the season. These will typically be more in line with the preferences of the Academy, whose membership greatly overlaps with that of the corresponding guilds.
We still have a long way to go before the Oscars, so grab some popcorn and come along.
Important turning points
January 7, Sunday: Golden Globes
Wednesday, January 10: Nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards
January 14th, Sunday: Critics’ Choice Awards
Nominations for the BAFTA Film Awards, Thursday, January 18.
January 23, Tuesday: Nominations for the Academy Awards
The Directors Guild of America Awards are on Saturday, February 10.
February 12th, Monday: Luncheon for Oscar nominees
February 18, Sunday: BAFTA Film Awards
Wednesday, February 21: Nominations for the Writers Guild Awards
February 24, Saturday: Screen Actors Guild Awards
February 25th, Sunday: Independent Spirit Awards in Film
February 25, Sunday: Producers Guild Awards
March 10th, Sunday: Oscar Awards