Representatives from The Academy of Motion Pictures have announced via Variety that they intend to have an in-person awards show in the coming year. For those who may not know, the broadcast is set to air April 25, 2021, some two months later in response to COVID.
The Oscars were always going to continue on, despite theaters (and by proxy, films) being crippled by the pandemic. They've added some new rules to qualify streaming films, and will keep the normal contenders from before the pandemic in play, as well as extending the eligibility timeline from December 31, 2020 to February 28, 2021. The problem here is not the show itself, but the idea that they're going to cram some unknown number of actors and crew into the Dolby theater well before a vaccine can be effectively distributed in any meaningful way.
The move seems especially odd after the Emmys held a relatively successful - and completely safe - show via zoom. We know that it can be done, so why risk the health of those involved? Even then, how many of the nominees will actually be willing to sit in the theater?
We'll undoubtedly learn more in the coming months, but this seems like an announcement that should have waited for a time where Los Angeles wasn't experiencing 7K+ COVID new cases a day. Or, at the very least waited until they knew what kind of restrictions they'd be attempting to put in place.
Here's a quick guide to everything we know about the COVID-19 vaccines currently in place, and what kind of timelines we're looking at.
