What's awards season without a little controversy?The expectation of off-screen drama seems as assured these days as the beautiful gowns and wooden on-stage delivery of teleprompter speeches. I love it, and I'm always watching.As we approach January's Oscar noms, we're thinking about all the kerfuffles from this year's ceremony and the proliferation of what's been termed "category fraud" from those in power. The act is as old as the industry, but shrewd fans have started to see the studio machinations from a mile away. - YouTube www.youtube.com What Is Category Fraud? We're in the thick of awards campaigning right now, which tends to coincide with the start of fall as studios start to push their talent in front of press and at events. We might see movies like Sinners get rereleases so they're fresh in viewers' minds, for example. Industry insiders will start to see a ton of FYC emails and mailers roll in. Everyone wants to get nominated, of course. But the acting categories, especially, are incredibly narrow, with only five people named in each.To give some talent a better chance at a coveted spot, some studios will position their actors in categories that don't quite fit—maybe someone everyone sees is clearly a main character is slotted into a supporting actor role, for example. The practice, as I said, is not new but has gotten so bad and so overt that The Ringer called this past year's Academy Awards "the fraudiest awards season in Oscar history."Examples from 2025One such...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday