The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced several rule changes on Monday (April 22), including a much-welcomed one in the best original category that says “three composers will be allowed to receive individual statuettes if, in rare cases, they all contributed fully to score”. Previously, three composers had to submit as a team and only one Oscar statuette was awarded.
Now, wait a minute, you might say. Just three years ago, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste won Best Original Score for Soul. And, yes, all three composers won Oscars – but, incredibly, they had to share a statuette. (Reznor and Ross graciously let Batiste have it, since he hadn't won an Oscar before. Reznor and Ross had won in the same category a decade earlier for The social network.)
As we pointed out a few years ago, “The addition of a third partner (Baptiste) to Soul it meant they couldn't each get an Oscar. This is unfortunate, because this cross-genre collaboration is what many have found most appealing in music.”
The Academy, clinging to tradition, prefers to see individual winners in this category, but with today's rule change, there is a mechanism for a team of three to be awarded.
Here's the rule from the Oscars rulebook: “No more than one statuette shall normally be awarded in the original scoring category. A second statuette may be awarded when two acclaimed composers function as equal collaborators, each contributing fully to the original dramatic underpinning of the film. The music industry executive committee has the right, in a very rare and exceptional case, to award a third statuette to three individuals who acted as equal partners in the creation of the original score and are not working together as a recognized band or group.
“In cases where three or more recognized composers function as equal partners in a recognized group, a single statuette may be awarded to the group. Each composer in the group must agree to the selection of the single 'group statuette' by signing and returning a 'group award form' before the submission deadline.
There have been five other times that teams of three have won scoring awards, most recently at the 1987 Academy Awards when Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su won Best Original Score for The Last Emperor.
Teams of four have won Academy Awards on three occasions. The Beatles won Best Original Song for Let It Be (1970); Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal and Sid Ramin won best score in a musical film for West Side Story (1961); and Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken won the best score for Coach (1939). These groups of four will not benefit from today's rule change.
The Academy also announced that the shortlist for Best Original Song will increase from 15 to 20 titles, although the shortlist for Best Original Song will remain at 15 titles. The Academy also announced that Friday, November 1, 2024 will be the submission deadline for the Music (Original Score) and Music (Original Song) Categories – which are the official names of the categories.
Other changes to the prize rules include:
- Animated feature films submitted in the international feature film category are now eligible for consideration in the animated feature film category if the eligibility requirements outlined for both categories are met.
- The new eligibility period for the international feature film category is from November 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
- In the writing categories, a final shooting script will now be required for submission.
- Changes were also made to the testimonial awards presented at the Governors Awards. The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given to a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production, will now be presented as an Oscar statuette.
- The definition of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was revised to clarify the broad term humanitarian efforts. the award will “be given to a person in the film industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human well-being and helping to redress inequalities.”
- Two special awards given in the Science and Technology Awards have been renamed, revealing the names of the people for whom the awards were originally named. The Gordon E. Sawyer Award is now the “Scientific and Technical Lifetime Achievement Award.” The John A. Bonner Award is now the “Scientific and Technical Service Award.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/oscar-rule-changes-best-original-score-1235662707/
