It’s 2023 and we’re still in a COVID hangover.
Jamie Lee Curtis, the icon, the legend, announced that she would not be able to attend weekend festivities honouring her work in Everything Everywhere All At Once due to testing positive for COVID. Curtis is nominated for best supporting actress for the Critics Choice Awards which will be held on Sunday, January 15.
Thank goodness the Academy Awards are in March as it would be a travesty if Curtis receives her first nomination after 45 years in the industry and she’s sidelined due to COVID.
It used to be that the only movie award that mattered was the Academy Award. But now, there’s a whole swath of gongs of significance that can signal a pathway to the pot of Oscar gold.
So what are these awards?
I’ve put together a list of some of the major ones or ones that sound major, so you can decide for yourself if they’re worth using to help predict your Oscar favorites.
The Academy Awards
Inception: 1929
Voting Process: Most categories are nominated by the members of the corresponding branch – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.
Membership: Nearly 9,500 eligible to vote from the Academy or The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
Website: https://www.oscars.org/oscars
National Board of Review
Inception: 1929
Voting Process: Each year, over 250 films are viewed by members and are frequently followed by discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters.
Membership: Around 130 select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, and academics.
New York Film Critics Circle
Inception: 1935
Voting Process: Every year in December the organization meets in New York to vote on awards for the previous calendar year’s films.
Membership: 43 members include critics from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines, and qualifying online general-interest publications.
Website: https://www.nyfcc.com/about/
Golden Globe Awards
Inception: 1944
Voting Process: Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) members vote in all categories.
Membership: 105 members from countries including: Canada, Austria, Australia, Italy, Philippines, Korea, Japan, Ireland, Brazil, Germany, Finland, Egypt, etc.
BAFTA Awards
Inception: 1949
Voting Process: Every category in the first round is voted on by a craft Chapter, opt-in chapter or jury, with the exception of best film, which is voted for by all film-voting members. Chapters are made up of a minimum of 100 BAFTA members who hold specialist knowledge in the relevant craft. The first round longlisting is equally split between voting-based and jury-based. The round two voting to determine nominees is also open to BAFTA voting members and jury members. In round three, all BAFTA members vote on all major categories.
Membership: About 6,500 voting members.
Website: https://www.bafta.org/film
National Society of Film Critics
Inception: 1966
Voting Process: The annual voting meeting is the first Saturday in January. Voting is conducted using a weighted ballot system. There is no nomination process.
Membership: 63 members that include many of the nation’s leading film critics. Members are associated with major papers in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston and from prominent online publications.
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Inception: 1975
Voting Process: Each December, LAFCA members vote on the year’s awards.
Membership: 64 members comprised of Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in the Los Angeles print and electronic media.
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Inception: 1995
Voting Process: Voting for is done in two stages. The first, nominations balloting, is voted on by two nominating committees – one for Motion Pictures and one for Television. These nominating committees are newly selected each year from all paid-up and active SAG-AFTRA members who have not served previously in the past 8 years. The second stage of voting, final balloting, begins after nominations are announced. All SAG-AFTRA members who have paid their November dues by a set deadline will be eligible.
Membership: SAG-AFTRA represents more than 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcaster journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other professionals.
Website: https://sagawards.org/awards
Critics Choice Awards
Inception: 1996
Voting Process: Members of the Critics Choice Association (CCA) nominate and vote on both film and television contenders.
Membership: About 600 members include broadcast, radio and online critics as well as entertainment journalists who review films and documentaries as well as scripted and unscripted television.
Comments