The Nomination Process

So, I have seen many articles the past few days talking about how shocked people are that a movie could get nominated for best picture, but somehow not get nominated for best director, best actor, or best actress. People also are surprised when a movie might get a Golden Globe nomination, or a BAFTA nomination, and then not get one for the Oscars (Academy Awards).

One article in particular that I read, was talking about how Greta Gerwig deserved to be nominated for best director. Now, Greta Gerwig is a fabulous director! I really enjoyed Lady Bird, and was glad to see her receive several nominations for that movie a few years ago. I am also very excited to go see Little Women this weekend, and I imagine I will enjoy it when I go see it. However, all the other directors who were nominated for best director (Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Todd Phillips – Joker, Bong Joon-Ho – Parasite, Martin Scorsese – The Irishman, and Sam Mendes – 1917) are great as well, and I enjoyed all of their movies this year too!

What a lot of people don’t realize is how exactly it is the academy goes about nominations. For starters, the academy is fairly secretive about who exactly is part of the academy in and of itself. We do know that there are over 7,000 members. We also know they are required to have been in the industry, and have recognition in the credits of a film. The easiest way to become a member of the academy is to simply be nominated for an Oscar. There is a lot more to it, but that at least gives us a starting point.

Also, the academy is broken into different sections, this is how a film might be nominated for best picture, and not be nominated for best director. Every member of the academy gets to vote for best motion picture. But, only certain members can vote for a sub category, such as director.

A good example of this can be found in a recent tweet by Stephen King. I’m only going to quote the first part of his tweet right now because it has to do with voting directly. King said; “As a writer, I am allowed to nominate in just 3 categories: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Screenplay.” With what we know already, his writing status only allows him to vote for Adapted, and Original Screenplay. His Academy membership is what allows him to vote for Best Picture. He has no say in any other category, such as Best Director. With that in mind now, it’s fairly easy to understand how there can be discrepancies in different categories.

No award show nomination process is perfect, but The Oscars (Academy Awards) are widely considered to be the most prestigious. I know I have always looked forward to watching them for as long as I can remember!

Here is an article I found that talks about the Oscars, and several of the other award shows. https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/guide-important-film-award-shows/