Until you do this, there will be fake forgery and then after you have been doing it for many years. Several Oscar voters who have long entered the Academy of Film Arts and Sciences have apparently accepted the latter. Last month, the elite film industry panel announced new rules for the final round of voting for next year’s Oscar winners. Academic members now have to watch all the movies before voting - all the way.
For voters of any award, this seems to be an obvious rule: look at the work you want to judge. But when I recently talked with several academy members about the new conditions, there is a lack of consensus on how to judge a movie.
"I was the first to be on the list of those who don't read everything," one of the film editors at the college told me. (All my interview subjects in the college require anonymous and frank talk about my behavior or the college's behavior.)evil No interest at all. I know I won't vote for it, and I haven't really seen it. "She refers to The Wizard of Oz The prequel was nominated for Best Picture this year. "I can only look at things that are interesting to me. Otherwise, for me, it's my waste of time." She told me that the new rules would not change her habits. "I know what I like. I know what I don't like. If I start watching for 10 or 15 minutes and know I won't vote, I will continue to 'play', but I probably won't watch. I'll walk away."
What have the voting members of the academy been doing for the past nearly 100 years? Members are encouraged to shock all nominees fairly, but - apart from some professional categories, there is no explicit requirement to watch movies in competition from open sequences to end credit. Under the new system, to unlock and calculate their final votes, voters will have to watch each nominee from start to finish through the Academy’s private screening app, or fill out forms to prove where and when they are watching the movie (if in an external venue).
Some members I spoke with pointed out that rule reform lacks teeth – if voters are willing to lie, it is watching movies at festivals or theaters. "The academy can't track you, you can tick it." The academy's app is not foolproof, either. Voters can make the movie play while making dinner or answering emails. But the key is that the academy’s honor system will now include the danger of derogatory cheating, which leads to theoretical risk of being lying.
A documentary from the academy told me that something tightened was needed, but asked voters to sit in all the movies with too many movies: "The filmmakers quickly knew what they were watching were really special," he told me. "What yes See a movie? Are you watching the first 25 minutes of the movie? Is this important? Or do you have to go all the way? "If we decide to award the Oscar in the best 25-minute open, maybe we can all agree Saving Private Ryan Worth traced back.
Other members disagree that filmmakers can distinguish greatness from mediocrity so quickly. The director told me that the new rules should be "for a long time." Then why can we update it to this point? “Not many people see it Barbarians "Overall. Movies are Oscar-baiting movies," he said, the director said - meaning they are late and can make their mark in voters' memories, but early enough to cause a serious buzz.
“I finished 45 minutes,” another documentary maker at the academy told me. It looks like this is a "big problem". Composers from the two academys I talked to told me that voters skipped for a long time Barbarians He said: “There are a few people like, ‘I can’t do it.
Barbarians Not the first film in the history of the college to win a good review, rather than watching conference minutes. According to the director I spoke with, the four-time Oscar winner in 2022 It's quiet on the Western Front Voters weren't watching either. Nodding as early as possible can also make a reliable judgment. "I am here in conclusion,” the documentary maker admitted.
The obvious question: How many academy members find unacceptable films ultimately nominated and even earned the industry’s highest honor? From my conversation with the members of the academy, an answer emerged: If not all voters had time (or had time) to watch every movie, a group of PR personnel were ready to use the time to approve the advice of voters.
Best Picture Champion of 2025 aor,,,,, Of its $18 million marketing budget, the film’s studio spent most of its time (the film’s $6 million production cost) on its Oscars, including selling red thongs from the movie brand. Generating word of mouth excitement among 10,000 movie insiders is an expensive but crucial part of the game. Another composer in the academy I spoke to told me that, as we all know, the bigger budget film was a private concert by Oscar voters at La's Royce Hall Theatre, which is essentially "a cocktail party for drinks and appetizers" to showcase the composers they nominated for. “You basically have a few movies that you’re doing at the campaign rally,” he said.
The first composer told me: "When Barbie Warner Bros. so Many events. "He gave a blunt assessment of how the academy vote works: "Of course we are not watching movies or not. This is how much we win and eat”, then added: “It’s not about winning and eating, it’s about getting access. "Movie PR personnel play an important role in determining votes for more niche award categories. (Of course, members are not any obligation to vote in each category.)
Although the Academy members tend to see changes in the rules as a repair of the housekeeper, online cynically sees it as a confession of fraud and corruption. The controversy has made the gap between the efforts of the Oscars and what it is actually a concern. It does not celebrate what makes the cinema great, but rather conspiracy within the nutwood that makes it visible to the public. William Stribling, a film producer who is not a member of the Academy, told me, “It’s fascinating that the public and the audience of the film have invested a lot in this matter, and it’s really an internal, industry-wide event.”
By trying to make the Oscars more fair, the college inadvertently revealed that the rewards business is not that fair. But maybe this is Hollywood's worst secret.