Oscars Voters Must Watch All Nominated Films Says Academy Awards

The Board of Governors of The Academy Awards have made some major changes in advance of the 98th annual ceremony. It was announced, in a press release on Monday, that members will now be required to watch all the nominated films in order to qualify to be able to vote in the final competitive categories. This, and several other major changes (not including the Stunt Design award slated to be first awarded at the 100th Oscars), will undoubtedly have an impact on the awards handed out each year. How large, of course, remains to be seen. But it is an announcement that will undoubtedly have many people saying, “finally!”

It has long felt a bit unfair to the nominated films that Academy members weren’t required to watch all the movies in the categories for which they were voting. Making it a requirement to do so feels like the right thing to do, for the sake of parity, the films, and the people nominated — and it seems that the Board of Governors are in agreement, too. “In a procedural change, Academy members must now watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars®,” the Board stated via press release.

But what do these and all the other rule changes mean? Keep reading to find out more!

The Academy Awards Look To Rectify A Dirty Open Secret In Oscars Voting

Here’s the thing: if you’re a fan of awards season, you’ve probably read a lot of those anonymous voter stories, many of which cop to the fact that lots of people voting haven’t seen all the nominated films. Until this new vote, the Academy did not require voters in all branches to have seen all the films ahead of voting. (It is worth noting that certain viewing standards applied to specific categories, though, like Documentary and Shorts categories.)

When reached for comment by Entertainment Weekly, an Academy representative explained via a statement that, “If you haven’t viewed a title, it will still appear on your ballot, but it will be grayed out. For the specialty categories, we will still require viewing in prelims and noms as usual. For this year, we will now require viewing in finals voting for all categories and all voting members.” Proof of viewership is currently tracked on the Academy Screening Room website, where voting members can screen titles. “There is also a ‘seen elsewhere’ form that members will need to submit before finals voting” if not watched internally, the statement went on to explain.

As for the other new rules? The press release also lays out the rules and eligibility requirements for the new casting category, and clarifies language around the use of generative AI in a film, noting that “each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.” Key dates for nominations and submissions are also included in the press release (which you can read in full at the source link below).

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The Oscars