The Oscar nominations are being pushed back almost a week from their original date amid the ongoing California wildfires. Nominations will now be announced on Jan. 23, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Monday.
“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang said in a joint statement.
“The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”
With fires still active in the Los Angeles area, the film academy also extended the nominations voting period for its members through Friday. Originally, nominations were to be announced that morning.
The organization that puts on the Oscars has also made the decision to cancel its annual nominees luncheon, an untelevised event best known for the “class photos” it produces annually. The Scientific and Technical Awards, previously set for Feb. 18, will be rescheduled later.
The 97th Oscars will still happen on March 2, at the Dolby Theatre, with a live television broadcast on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. ET and a live stream on Hulu.
As people wait for information about their homes, crews battling wildfires around Los Angeles County are worried the return of strong winds will add more fuel to the raging wildfires.
Grammys continuing
Other award shows and industry events have been postponed or seen delays amid the fires: the Critics Choice Awards have been rescheduled from Jan. 12 to Jan. 26, while the AFI Awards Luncheon was postponed indefinitely and the annual BAFTA Tea Party was cancelled.
Also Monday, the Writers Guild of America postponed the announcement of its nominees “until further notice.” Originally scheduled for Thursday, the nominations were first delayed until today before a second postponement. That ceremony is slated for Feb. 15.
The Grammys will still take place on Feb. 2 on CBS as planned, but the show will raise funds for wildfire relief efforts, according to a letter sent to Recording Academy members on Monday.
This year’s show “will carry a renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honouring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. and Tammy Hurt, chair of the board of trustees, said in the letter.
“In challenging times, music has the power to heal, comfort, and unite like nothing else.”
This comes after the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort last week alongside MusiCares, with a starting pledge of $1 million US to support musicians and music professionals in the affected region.
Netflix donates $10M
Many organizations and industry players have come together to raise money for wildfire relief over the past week as multiple blazes in Los Angeles County consumed neighbourhoods, sent tens of thousands fleeing and killed at least 24 people.
Netflix will be donating $10 million US split between a number of wildfire recovery funds, the organization said on Monday.
“Many of our employees and creative partners have been directly impacted by this disaster,” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement.
“For many people who aren’t familiar with it, Los Angeles conjures images of palm trees and red carpets; mansions and movie stars. But for those of us lucky enough to call this city home, Los Angeles is far more than that. It’s a family — one made up of extraordinarily talented, hardworking people from all over the world and all walks of life, many of whom came here chasing a dream.”
He added that the “next few years will be a rebuilding time for many of us,” but that L.A. will “come back stronger than before.”
The Walt Disney Company announced on Friday that it would be committing $15 million US to help organizations on the ground dealing with the devastating fires, stating that “the history of The Walt Disney Company is inextricably linked to the greater Los Angeles region.”
The Screen Actors Guild, which cancelled their in-person nominations announcement on Wednesday amid the fires, donated $1 million US through the SAG-AFTRA foundation to assist members who are impacted by the fires. The foundation is also accepting donations through their natural disaster relief fund.
Oscar nominations were postponed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ceremony itself was also delayed, which had happened several times before: The ceremony was pushed back a week because of disastrous flooding in Los Angeles in 1938.
In 1968, it was delayed two days following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And in 1981, it was put off for 24 hours after President Ronald Reagan was shot in Washington D.C.
The 1981 decision was made four hours before the broadcast was scheduled to begin.
