Postcard from LA
No Zooms, no hosts and no hoodies! The Oscars are three weeks away and who knows what the glitzy ceremony will look like with all this going on.
But what we do know is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doesn’t want its ceremony to look like the other ones which have been held since the pandemic changed everything. They’re not embracing technology and going down the Zoom route – video calls are banned! Perhaps they looked at the mild shambles that was the Golden Globes last month and decided patchy internet connections and award winners who looked like they’d stumbled out of bed weren’t the best fit for the biggest gong ceremony in theworld!
The Academy are requiring guests attend one of the two locations where the ceremony is being held – which has caused a right stooshie.
All acceptance speeches can only be given by actually attending the 93rd Academy Awards in person at the Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood is being used for other production elements like song numbers.
The industry here is up in arms about it. I’m speaking to agents who have the headache of trying to get their clients from around the world to Losangeles,covid tests and all, with the stars footing the bill themselves.
Not only that but the nominees will be required to isolate in a hotel for 10 days before the ceremony – the Academy rightly doesn’t want its night turning into a superspreader event!
Again it’s the nominees who will have to pay for this. One agent I know has scores of nominees on their books – the cost to put these stars up in fancy hotels? It’s going to be enormous. They’ll be hoping the stars don’t hammer the mini bar over the week they’re stuck in their rooms! Have you seen the price of a bottle of water? Promising Young Woman star Carey Mulligan, Olivia Colman, nominated for The Father, best supporting actor favourite Daniel Kaluuya and 1992 winner Sir Anthony Hopkins are among the British stars nominated.vanessa Kirby, Gary Oldman and Riz Ahmed are up for awards, too. Notallofthemliveinthe UK but many do.with UK rules meaning travellers are fined for leaving the country, would all of them be able to attend? I don’t know if going for a knees-up and lifting a wee statue counts, but who knows?
Well, it looks like there might be a solution.two locations sounds like a lot but what about a third? It seems the producers, who include Ocean’s 11 director Steven Soderbergh, are looking at a separate UK venue where nominees can safely gather. That way we could have the glamour of Hollywood back in the UK.AND we won’t have to watch Daniel Kaluuya be cut off mid-acceptance speech because his neighbour is playing Fortnite and jamming his internet connection...