Last year, for the first time since 1982, there was no Oscar Nominees Luncheon — the pandemic was still raging — but the feel-good gathering at which everyone is still a winner returned on Monday, held at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City for the first time. And despite ongoing tensions over the new manner in which certain categories will be incorporated into the 94th Oscars telecast on March 27, the hundreds of nominees in attendance — who Oscars telecast producer Will Packer called “the best of the best” during his welcoming remarks — seemed to set aside any bad feelings and basked at being in such impressive company.
At the luncheon, nominees (and their plus ones) are always seated with people from different films and different categories, as well as an Academy governor or past president, which forces everyone to mingle beyond their existing friend circle. This year, some tables boasted particular star-wattage — for example, best actor nominee Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos) and best actress nominee Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), a married couple, were seated with best picture/best director nominee Steven Spielberg (West Side Story) and best adapted screenplay nominee Sian Heder (CODA), who brought the film’s leading lady Emilia Jones as her date, as well as past Academy president Sid Ganis. During breaks in the action, dozens of attendees seated at other tables, including best international feature nominees Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World) and Teruhisa Yamamoto (Drive My Car), lined up to shake hands with, request photographs with and, in Yamamoto’s case, even bow before Spielberg, who couldn’t have been more gracious towards all comers.
During the more formal portions of the event, when people were seated and nibbling on a vegetarian meal, Packer introduced a short video (first played at the luncheon a few years ago) in which Kate McKinnon plays an old movie star warning nominees, in the most humorous of ways, not to give long or boring speeches if they win. Additionally, Academy president David Rubin, who is in his final term before terming-out, thanked Packer, acknowledged the Academy’s outgoing CEO Dawn Hudson and asked the governors in the room to take a bow (Spielberg is one of them). And then actors branch governor Alfred Molina read aloud each nominee’s name, summoning them to one of two stages in the room to pose with other nominees for small group photos, which I’m told will later be digitally combined so that there is something resembling the usual full class photo. (Apparently, the smaller groupings were seen as preferable out of an abundance of caution related to COVID.)
When their names were called, best actor nominees Will Smith (King Richard) and Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth) danced along to the music as they made their way to the risers. Best original song nominees and siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (No Time to Die) cheered as best actress nominee Kristen Stewart (Spencer) took a spot near them. Netflix chief Ted Sarandos was among those cheering on the field-leading number of nominees from The Power of the Dog, while the deaf individuals associated with the best picture nominee CODA and the best documentary short nominee Audible applauded each other by waving their hands in the air. And best supporting actress nominees Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard) and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) attracted, to my ear from a table in the middle of the room, a particularly loud applause.
I did seize any opportunity I had to gauge the temperature of the categories controversy with governors in the room. Those who would speak on the record were overwhelmingly supportive of giving this new method of presentation a try, and then reassessing the situation after the show.
One of my tablemates was executives branch governor and Academy vice president/secretary and governance committee chair Donna Gigliotti, who produced the 91st Oscars telecast, in the lead-up to which the Academy adopted and then abandoned a time-saving method of presenting certain categories not unlike the one currently causing controversy. “I tried to do this in my year [as producer] and the board of governors changed their minds. But as an officer [now], I just couldn’t see doing that to Will Packer. And the bottom line is that when people see what the show looks like, everybody will be happy.” She added, “ABC has always wanted a three-hour show, but that aside, what the data shows is that when you go beyond the three-hour mark, people turn off their televisions, particularly on the east coast. So if you want people to watch the entire show, wrap it up at the three-hour mark.” Does she think there is any chance the board will backtrack again? “No. That was a kind of momentous decision, I think, by the officers, to say, ‘We’re not backtracking. We’re going to hold the line.’ It’s important for, frankly, the survival of the Academy. That’s really what it amounts to. It’s no secret that the Academy derives 97 percent of its income from this show, so what are you going to do?”
Meanwhile, I chatted with makeup artists/hairstyling branch governor Bill Corso, a member of the board’s awards committee (which proposed the presentation method that is currently being debated) who once received an Oscar while standing in aisle (part of another effort to streamline the telecast). Of this year’s efforts to change the show, he says, “When I heard some of the ideas, I was kind of horrified. I said, ‘Look, what is really important is that the winner gets to go up on stage and thank the Academy.’ I was robbed of that opportunity — I thanked a guy with a lens in an aisle, and the entire audience saw my back — so it was very important to me that everybody get their moment on stage.” He added with a chuckle, “I also happen to be part of a category that has not had some of the best acceptance speeches in the past. I would have begged for a little editing — a little bit of editing would have made a world of editing.” So how much will ultimately be cut from the speeches of winners in the eight categories in question? “As you’ve just heard [from Packer and McKinnon], we want everybody to give a speech that will inspire and really come from the heart, and if they do that their speech is not going to be touched. But if they start reading off a list of names and they’re not going to contribute to the moment, then it will probably be tightened up. The idea is to make them look their best.” He added, “This is one way to get a much tighter show. If it was up to me, we’d edit the whole show! Then it would be amazingly tight and perfect.”
And writers branch governor and Academy vice president Larry Karaszewski opined, “I’m happy there’s experimentation. We’re trying to make the show as good as possible.” He pleaded, “Let’s have fun with the show. We used to give awards to Charlie McCarthy! Let’s make the show fun again. Everyone’s going to still be on the show and everyone’s going to still get their moment.”
Source: Hollywood
