Oscar planning continues despite strike: organizers
Though the glitzy gala of its most prominent precursor ó the Golden Globes ó was scuttled this week, the Academy Awards show will go on, organizers insisted on Tuesday.
Both Gil Cates, longtime producer of the Oscars telecast, and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis have stressed in interviews that preparations continue for the Feb. 24 Academy Awards show, despite the ongoing screenwriters strike.
“[The Oscar broadcast] has been on through wars and through presidential assassination attempts,” Cates said.
“It would be shameful if the Oscars were in any way impacted.”
On Monday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association ó the group behind the Golden Globes ó announced the cancellation of this year’s event after the Writers Guild of America refused a request to allow its members to work on the show and vowed to erect picket lines outside if it took place.
In solidarity, the Screen Actors Guild said its members would not cross picket lines to attend.
The HFPA said that this year’s winners would be announced at an hour-long news conference on host network NBC. It also postponed a tribute to Steven Spielberg, who was set to receive a lifetime achievement honour, until next year.
The WGA also vowed to deny any similar request from Oscar organizers for writers to work on its broadcast.
Organizers of the People’s Choice Awards decided to change their latest edition ó which aired Tuesday night ó from a live awards show to pre-taped clips of stars presented their trophies in different locations, some while they were doing other things.
The Screen Actors Guild Award show and the Film Independent Spirit Awards are so far only ones granted a waiver to use a striking writer to pen the script for their upcoming events.
Cates quiet on Oscar plans
Plans are still moving forward, Cates said, though he declined to reveal any details about how the Oscars would play out if the strike is still on by Feb. 24.
“I can’t elaborate on how we’re going to do it because I don’t want anybody to deal with the elaboration in a way that might impact its success,” he said.
Though viewership numbers have fallen in comparison with past decades, the annual Academy Awards telecast is one of the most watched television events in the world.
Like the writers strike itself, which has shuttered many TV and film productions, the cancellation of the Golden Globes is estimated to have had a significant financial ripple effect on related industries, including event planners, limousine companies, stylists, caterers, estheticians and similar workers.
The strike began Nov. 5 and talks broke off between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers Dec. 7.
The guild has since reached independent deals with two independent production companies: David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants and Tom Cruise’s United Artists Films.
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