Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Next Year's Academy Awards Ceremony May be Postponed Due to Pandemic - Report

VOA News

   Next year's Academy Awards telecast may be postponed because of the
   disruption to theatrical releases caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

   A story published Tuesday in the entertainment magazineVarietyquotes an
   anonymous source who says it's "likely" the annual awards ceremony,
   which is scheduled to air February 28 on ABC-TV, will be postponed.

   But the source also says the details have not been fully discussed or
   formally proposed.

   Under the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
   which hands out the prestigious awards, films must be released in
   traditional theaters before December 31 to be eligible for Oscar
   nominations. But with thousands of theaters across the country shut
   down because of the pandemic, many feature films slated for traditional
   release are now debuting on streaming digital services such as Netflix,
   which has prompted the Academy to change its rules to allow for those
   films to be nominated.

   "It makes sense when we don't really know what's to come in terms of
   the availability of theatrical exhibition," Academy president David
   Rubin toldVarietywhen the new rules were announced. "We need to make
   allowances for this year only and during this time when theaters are
   not open so great film work can be seen and celebrated."