Last week, the governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences changed a few rules for the 80th Academy Awards.
The most notable adjustment pertains to the best film category. Although one of the rules still states that only "three or fewer producers who have performed the major portion of the producing functions," will be eligible to receive Oscar nominations, added wording now allows for possible exceptions to that limit.
It should be noted that several recent best picture winners and nominees, e.g., Million Dollar Baby, Crash, and Little Miss Sunshine, had more than three credited producers. The issue surrounding Little Miss Sunshine proved particularly thorny as all five credited producers were found to have done substantial work on the film.
Additionally, as per the Academy's press release:
"The definition of an animated feature film was altered to further clarify the requirements for that category, in light of the emerging technologies now being used in the production of some movies. An animated feature film is now defined as a motion picture of at least 70 minutes in running time, in which movement and characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture's running time.
"In the Art Direction category, an adjustment now allows for the possibility, again only in unusual circumstances, of two production designers or two set decorators receiving nominations for their work on a given film, but not both. In the past, the rule allowed for only one production designer, though two set decorators could be nominated in rare cases.
"New language concerning digital cinema qualification standards, necessary to accommodate evolving equipment and formats, was approved earlier this year. Also approved at that time were the rules for the Documentary and Short Film categories. Documentary theatrical rollout requirement deadlines were moved up, and all documentary and short films may now qualify via the digital cinema requirements as defined for either the 80th or the 79th Academy Awards."
Next, perhaps a sane Academy member will help to fully revamp the foreign-language film category, allowing for multiple films per country while taking away the power from a few dozen (if that many) Academy members who bother to vote in that category.
Complete rules for all categories can be viewed online at www.oscars.org/80academyawards/rules/index.html.
The 80th Academy Awards presentation will held on Sunday, February 24, 2008.
61 Foreign-Language Oscar Submissions
Oscar's Foreign-Language Film Potential Contenders: 2nd Round
Deepa Mehta's WATER Is Canada's Entry for the Oscars
Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2007 in London