EXCLUSIVE: As a direct result of a suggestion at the September 17 Academy membership meeting, AMPAS CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang told the 10,000+ group in an email this morning that Academy members without tickets for the actual Oscar show will now be allowed to serve as seat-fillers during the broadcast.
The idea came about because the AMPAS member who made the suggestion was frustrated by the annual lottery for tickets, especially affected the past two years due to restrictions imposed by Covid protocol. In their email Kramer and Yang also announced that the ticket lottery will be returning for the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, and actually already is in progress for the November 19 Governors Awards.
“Regarding the Oscars, we too loved the suggestion to have members serve as seat-fillers. We will enact this for the March 12 show and will provide information later this fall about seat-filler guidelines and protocols. In addition, the member lottery will return, with PwC now overseeing the process of vetting and selection. This applies to the Governors Awards lottery already in process,” the email read.
Seat-fillers are traditional jobs at every televised awards show, including the Oscars, where non-famous people are rushed into visible empty seats that may have been temporarily vacated for various reasons by those who have the real tickets. This especially includes seats for nominees, winners, presenters and just about any important attendee with ace seats that can be seen on television. The job usually goes to volunteers who like the idea of sitting in the spotlight, no matter how long, before they get booted out when the person who really belongs in the seat comes back. Now apparently that job will be filled by actual Oscar voters who are about to get a taste of what “seat-filling” is really like. Don’t expect though Christopher Nolan to keep Steven Spielberg’s seat warm while he takes a bathroom break, but it will be interesting to see who jumps at this novel idea and signs up.
Another area the new leaders of the Academy have immediately jumped on are the Membership Screenings in LA, NY, and London, and soon back in San Francisco. The weekend screenings have been very slow to come back, but after vocal complaints AMPAS has moved to form a new team overseeing the screening program, and by evidence of the still evolving schedule for October it looks like it is returning to some semblance of normalcy, at least in LA for starters, not only in numbers, but in quality of Oscar contending movies available to members at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. Among the October films scheduled are Moonage Daydream, Sidney, Amsterdam, Don’t Worry Darling, Tar, Triangle Of Sadness, The Good House, Decision To Leave, The Banshees Of Inisherin, Causeway, and Armageddon Time. Still at least one member devoted in the past to attending these screenings in person rather than watching on the Academy’s digital screening platform, says it is still fewer than in pre-pandemic times and wonders why there is no mention of Q&As with filmmakers and stars as there was in the past. He said at last weekend’s Blonde screening there were only about 100 attendees, and no Q&A much to his disappointment. He also wonders about the wisdom of scheduling some of the films as early as 10:30 AM, particularly documentaries which seem to be relegated to that slot – at least in October.
There are a number of initiatives the Academy has also clarified since the September 17 meeting, and they also provided a link to members to find out how to get more involved. To read the whole letter (minus the link) see below.
Dear Academy Members,
Thank you so much to those who joined us for the All-Member Meeting. We hope you found it helpful and informative and that it set the tone for the work we need to do together.
Prior to, during, and since the meeting, we have received many questions from members. We continue to answer them directly, but we thought it would be helpful to send this email to provide answers to some of the more frequently asked questions we have been receiving.
Regarding the Oscars, we too loved the suggestion to have members serve as seat-fillers. We will enact this for the March 12 show and will provide information later this fall about seat-filler guidelines and protocols. In addition, the member lottery will return, with PwC now overseeing the process of vetting and selection. This applies to the Governors Awards lottery already in process. The Oscars member viewing parties will continue in New York and London, and the Academy Museum will host its second annual Oscars Night party for members and the public in Los Angeles. More information on Academy Member ticket sales for these events will follow soon.
Membership screenings have returned to Los Angeles, New York and London, with a new team overseeing this program. Filmmaker and artist panels also will begin this fall and will be added to the Academy Screening Room. We will bring back screenings in San Francisco as well, and a members committee will be formed later this fall to help guide these initiatives. More information to follow on the committee. This team is also exploring screening opportunities in cities worldwide.
We will screen all international feature films on the Academy Screening Room and host gatherings (both in-person and virtual) for members voting in the category to connect and discuss the films. We will then screen the 15 shortlisted international feature films in Los Angeles, New York and London.
Additionally, over the last few years, we did not activate our grants program as the pandemic created fiscal challenges for us all. The budget for the current fiscal year, which was created in June based on the uncertainty of the pandemic, did not include the grants program for this year.
As we continue to build our robust talent development, education and community programs within the Academy (including the Academy Museum), our focus now is to invest in the film community beyond traditional grants to maximize impact. This is something we will continue to assess with the Academy Board Education and Outreach Committee as we establish the most effective way to build a more inclusive future for our industry and support our surrounding communities.
We are so grateful for the support of our membership and hope this email answers some of the lingering questions you may have. Please feel free to reach out to us with any additional thoughts or questions.
