The Academy’s Board of Governors met on Friday and voted to approve a long list of rule changes for the 96th Oscars to be held on March 10, 2024. These revamped rules cover new demands on countries submitting films for the Oscars for Best International Feature Film, Increased Promotional Campaign Restrictions and Release Dates Eligible for General Admission. Finally, the inclusion standards for Best Picture eligibility, announced in 2020, will now apply. (You can see the full list of updated regulations here.)
As for changing the number of theaters and cities films must book in order to be eligible for the Oscars, that conversation has been brought forward, the sources say, for the next round of rule changes for the 97th Oscars, which will take place in 2025. This makes sense, as there are tricky issues regarding major studio releases versus less funded independent distribution.
In a surprise move, the Academy has also changed the rules of the International Feature Film category. They now stipulate that selection committees worldwide, in every country submitting a film for Oscar consideration, must include at least 50% filmmakers (artists and/or craftsmen).
This means that the Academy, in a move designed to improve the quality of foreign-language films presented each year, is telling every country, from Brazil and Iran to France and Timbuktu – including government-run selection committees – how to choose their Oscar film. That could reduce the political bias in some of these selections, but if Iran doesn’t want to feature a banned director, this new rule is unlikely to make a difference.
Winning the international Oscar means a lot to countries around the world. So many will likely comply. But who makes the final call on what to present? That’s the question.
Finally, following an initial announcement in 2020, Academy Inclusion Standards requirements are going into effect. In order to be eligible for the Best Picture category, these requirements will go into effect for the 96th Oscars. There’s a new form to fill out when submitting a film for Best Picture consideration: the Representation and Inclusion (RAISE) entry form. Each film must meet the requirements of two of the four inclusion standards. (Learn more about inclusion standards at Here.)
In the wake of controversy surrounding the grassroots ‘To Leslie’ Oscar campaign for eventual Best Actress nominee Andrea Riseborough – which included multiple private screenings, parties and social media posts – the Board of Governors has tightened rules for the Oscar campaign.
The Academy is seeking to clarify the campaign rules for private gatherings. The Board of Governors allows private events that include Academy members, but are not classified as “For Your Consideration” (FYC) events. This means that film distributors and producers are prohibited from paying for, creating or endorsing them.
Regarding Academy members’ use of direct email and public social media to promote their favorites, the Academy considers beyond any discussion of Oscar voting strategy, decisions or preferences as well as eligibility requirements such as inclusion standards. (They may anticipate some backlash.) It’s also not allowed—it wasn’t always allowed—to participate in the increasingly popular anonymous voting stories.
The Academy is establishing ways to enforce these new rules by establishing a process for reporting campaign violations or concerns (promotionalregulations@oscars.org) as well as a review process for any distributors or individuals associated with any violations. The Academy will apply sanctions.
The Academy is drastically reducing what had been an unlimited number of hosted screenings a film could have. In recent years, Oscar campaigners have relied on A-list stars and directors to host screenings. Now these will be limited during the pre-Oscar period to a maximum of four. There will be no “hosted” screenings following the announcement of the nominations.
On the other hand, Q&As and panels, which supposedly offer useful information, are fair game, and activists can set up as many as they like, before and after the nominations. (The Q&A was being reduced to four during the post-nomination season.)
Academy governors have also clarified that they themselves are not allowed to participate in any Oscar campaign, by hosting screenings, Q&As or panels, unless they are directly associated with a particular film or are asked to participate. at an official Academy event. .
When Academy president Janet Yang was criticized for posting an endorsement of Oscar contender Michelle Yeoh during Oscar season, she deleted her tweets. The Academy is clarifying that such public promotions are not permitted, from the day the lists are announced until the end of the final vote. The Academy is also relaxing the rules on using “selected” in FYC submissions. Now it is allowed.
Like the animated film, in the Live Shorts category, the Academy allows all Academy members who choose to participate in the vote.
The Academy prohibits the mailing of any physical marketing materials, from postcards to screening programmes, in the interest of sustainability. Activists can still use digital media to reach Academy members, but only through an Academy-approved mailing house. And in the interest of fairness, the Academy’s digital portal, the Academy Screening Room, will be more accessible to indies costing less than $10 million via a discounted rate.
The Governors of the Academy also approved the establishment of two deadlines for the submission of general admission categories. A feature film must have an eligible theatrical release date between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023. The submission deadlines are 15 September 2023 (for films released between 1 January and 30 June) and 15 November 2023 (for films released on July 1). to 31 December). Several other film categories will also have two submission deadlines based on the qualifying date.
Submission deadlines and additional key dates are listed below.
Tuesday 15 August 2023: first deadline for submission of the categories Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film
Friday 15 September 2023: first deadline for the submission of the Animated Film and General Entry categories
Monday 2 October 2023: deadline for submissions in the Documentary Feature Film and International Feature Film categories
Monday 16 October 2023: Deadline for submissions in the categories Animated Shorts, Documentary Shorts and Live Action Shorts
Wednesday 1 November 2023: deadline for submissions for the categories Music (original score) and Music (original song)
Wednesday 15 November 2023: Deadline for submissions for the Animated Film and General Entry categories
Saturday, January 13, 2024: screening of the visual effects nominations (bake-off)
Sunday, January 14, 2024: Hair and Makeup Nominations Screening and Sound (Bake-off) Nominations Screening
