Set Decorators Group “Infuriated” By Oscar Plan To Trim Categories From Telecast

Jon Burlingame editorSome of Hollywood’s most high-profile filmmakers, including director James Cameron, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Lili Fini Zanuck and composer John Williams have joined the growing chorus of voices asking the Academy to reverse course and present all 23 Oscars on the live March 27 telecast.In a letter obtained by Variety and sent today to Academy President David Rubin, more than six dozen film professionals including multiple Academy Award winners, contend that the plan to present eight awards during the pre-telecast hour will “demean” these crafts and “relegate [them] to the status of second-class citizens.”The eight are original score, film editing, production design, makeup and hairstyling, sound, documentary short, live-action short and animated short. The Academy continues to insist that the nominees in those categories will be announced, and the winner’s acceptance speech aired, in edited form and aired as part of the three-hour ABC show.

Coronation Street bosses have announced plans for a brand new set expansion, that will introduce countless possibilities for new storylines.The build is set to take just six months, and will bring viewers the Weatherfield Precinct, which has been mentioned on the ITV soap before.The two-storey build will include maisonettes, a staircase and balcony which leads up to the properties.There will also be a piazza and a number of accessible local shops and business units, which is set to enhance the ITV soap's 7.7 acre site near Manchester.The plans are the vision of production designer Rosie Mullins-Hoyle, and the construction begins this week with it expected to last six months.Then, the soap's cast and crew can begin filming exciting storylines with the extended set.Rosie said: "We are extremely excited to be starting to build Weatherfield Precinct this week after a year of technical drawings, model making, visualising and planning."An incredible amount of research has been carried out focussing on 1960s local architecture and we are striving to create an authentic area of Weatherfield with a grittier vibe to the existing street that we know and love."The build is being led by myself and Construction Manager Keith Eccleston and is a fantastic opportunity to use some of the amazing behind the scene talents we have on the show with bespoke joinery, scenic art work, graphic design and set dressing skills all being involved."Rosie went on: "I cannot wait to meet the characters that may call it home and see the businesses that will be created and the storytelling potential of an old but new part of Weatherfield.”In the past, viewers have seen characters talk about heading off to the shops at the precinct, but the new set will

Karen Idelson The five Oscar-nominated animated pics use many styles and storytelling genres to explore deeper issues. Below is a look into each work of art.Affairs of the ArtPet taxidermy. Screw threads.

Deadline he “feels very strongly” about the decision, explaining he believes filmmaking is a collaborative art and “we should all have a seat at the supper table”.“I disagree with the decision made by the executive committee,” the filmmaker said.  “I feel very strongly that this is perhaps the most collaborative medium in the world. All of us make movies together, we become a family where one craft is just as indispensable as the next.“I feel that at the Academy Awards there is no above the line, there is no below the line.

EXCLUSIVE: Voicing his concern and disappointment over the Motion Picture Academy’s controversial decision to move the presentation of eight categories to the hour before the actual ABC Oscar telecast begins at 5 p.m. PT on March 27, Steven Spielberg has become the most powerful voice yet to express his opposition to the idea.

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The hot pre-ceremony topic among attendees of the 26th annual Art Directors Guild Awards tonight was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ controversial decision to pre-tape several artisan awards – including production design – and edit them into the live network broadcast.

J. Kim Murphy Tom Fleischman, a frequent collaborator of Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee and a five-time Oscar-nominee for his work as a rerecording mixer, has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in response to the organization’s plan to remove eight categories from the live broadcast of the 2022 Academy Awards.An industry veteran, Fleischman has accrued nearly 200 credits as a rerecording mixer, with a career spanning more than five decades.

Hollywood’s biggest night will apparently be without one of its brightest category stars.

Clayton Davis Will Packer, the producer of this year’s Oscars telecast, has responded to the artisans community’s outcry about the decision to pre-record eight craft categories.During an interview with Variety, the Hollywood producer behind box office hits like “Girls Trip” says he is setting out to make a fun and engaging telecast for all viewers, while sharing he has the utmost respect and compassion for all artisans in the industry. Still, he stands by the decision to pre-tape eight categories and weave them into the live telecast.“I think it was the right decision,” Packer says.

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Guillermo del Toro didn't pull any punches while discussing the latest controversy swirling around the 94th Oscars.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last week that eight craft categories would be filmed an hour before the live Oscar telecast and 'seamlessly' edited into the live broadcast.The move has had its fair share of detractors, one of them being two-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro, who spoke out about the decision while receiving Filmmaking Achievement Award at the Hollywood Critics Association Awards on Monday. Guillermo speaks:Guillermo del Toro didn't pull any punches while discussing the latest controversy swirling around the 94th Oscars Edited:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last week that eight craft categories would be filmed an hour before the live Oscar telecast and 'seamlessly' edited into the live broadcastThe 57-year-old filmmaker was presented the award by his longtime collaborator Doug Jones, when he spoke about the collaborative nature of filmmaking.'Most of the movies that were done here were done against many many difficult odds,' del Toro began.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorArtisans are hoping for an Academy Awards do-over before the ceremony begins.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sparked outrage and frustration last week when it revealed plans to award eight craft Oscars before the live telecast and sprinkle footage of those presentations throughout the three-hour show — all to make room for other entertainment elements designed to boost viewer engagement and sagging ratings. Adding to the upset: Unsuspecting nominees felt ambushed by the Zoom announcement about the impending change during a virtual town hall last week.Susan Cabral-Ebert, a member of the Make-up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild, is among those hoping the Academy rethinks its plans before the March 27 ceremony.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorPalm Springs International Film Society announced today that the annual Palm Springs International ShortFest, one of the largest showcases of short-form cinema in North America, will return with in-person screenings June 21-27. For this year’s edition veteran programmer, Sudeep Sharma will act as interim 2022 ShortFest Director, with the planned maternity leave of PSIFF Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez.“Sudeep’s been an excellent collaborator, holding key roles at ShortFest for close to a decade,’” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez.

COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent health and safety protocols.  With invitations having just started to go out this week for the always glamorous March 27 bash, Page Six is reporting that it will again take place at the Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, only this time the venue will be reimagined as an 'open air space.

It's one of the hottest tickets in town, come awards season.The Vanity Fair Oscar party, known for attracting the very top of the A-listers, is back after a two-years break due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent health and safety protocols.With invitations having just started to go out this week for the always glamorous March 27 bash, Page Six is reporting that it will againtake place at the Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, only this time the venue will be reimagined as an 'open air space.' It's back! The Vanity Fair Oscar party is returning on March 27, 2022 after a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic Prestigious: The glamorous Vanity Fair party has attracted the top A-listersIn keeping with its mysterious lead-ups of yesteryear, the guest list has remained a guarded secret, but some insiders suspect the stars of the recent Hollywood edition of Vanity Fair - Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Andrew Garfield, Benedict Cumberbatch and Kristen Stewart. - will be among the guest list.Such other high-profile celebs rumored to be on hand includes the likes of Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Javier Bardem, Idris Elba,Jessica Chastain, Simu Liu, and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez.

Now the criticism is coming from within. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ plan to pre-tape Best Sound and other categories on this month’s Oscarcast has hit a sour note with a Music Branch governor.

Clayton Davis Oscars leaders are trying to clarify and justify their decision to move eight categories from the live telecast and ensure that the nominees don’t feel sidelined.“The board has discussed and agreed on the need to make changes to the broadcast, to allow for a celebratory show that also doesn’t ​run well over ​three hours,” says Dawn Hudson, CEO of the Academy, in an interview with Deadline. “That discussion has been ongoing but with more urgency for this year’s show.

A Dunblane theatre group who last week broke the world record for the fastest ever production topped it off by being mentioned live on a top American talk show hosted by James Corden.

Trafford is set to get a jam-packed events programme ahead of its hosting the opening game of the UEFA Women’s Euros tournament later this year.

J. Kim Murphy The Set Decorators Society of America has penned an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expressing its “extreme disappointment” regarding the decision to not broadcast certain categories — best production design, particularly — live during this year’s Oscars ceremony.The letter, addressed to Academy president David Rubin, CEO Dawn Hudson, the AMPAS board executive committee and the AMPAS awards committee, expresses solidarity with other branches that the “Academy has elected to demote from equal recognition” during its upcoming ceremony.“The diminution of these specific awards, which you declare to be ‘the fat in need of trimming’ from the broadcast in order to make it more entertaining, is punitive not only to the individual artists singled out for this treatment, but to entire industries represented by each one, who take enormous pride in their part in the creation of each nominated and winning film in the Academy competition,” the letter reads.