Ahead of an all-member meeting of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on September 17, the Academy’s new Executive Director Bill Kramer responded to questions from the Hollywood Reporter, marking an era of greater transparency for the organization behind the Oscars, with members and non-members alike.
Kramer will leave the city next week on a trip that will take him to fall film festivals in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and London as part of a growing international organization (“25% of our members are now non-members”). US Members”) and promote the return of film festivals and the theatrical cinema experience. But planning for the next Oscars ceremony, set for March 12, 2023, won’t wait until he returns to town. In fact, it’s more in the works than ever before, says Cramer: “We’ve talked to ABC. [the Oscars’ longtime broadcast partner] From the moment I started talking about what the show would be like and there will be some announcements coming soon, we’ve had incredibly productive and engaging conversations with them. ”
After years of underrated Oscar broadcasts, Kramer is ready to right the ship. quoting condom bill– S Lawrence Mark– manufactured /hugh jackman– received the 81st Academy Awards since 2009 as an “incredibly successful” speech, he emphasized: “The Oscars are live tv show. For us it is very important to work with producers who have experience in this field”, as opposed to, say, a filmmaker. Steven Soderberg or a film producer packer. He made it clear that, unlike the last four ceremonies, there will be a master of ceremonies for the 2023 ceremony. “We really want a presenter,” he explained, explaining, “A presenter is very important to us, we are committed to having a presenter at the program this year, and we are already looking for some key partners to do so.”
It’s not the first time Kramer has also indicated he wants to restore all 23 Oscar categories to live broadcast a year after eight of them were aired before broadcast and then rearranged to shorten the show’s length. Which angered many Academy members and eventually the show didn’t last 40 minutes. “We want all disciplines to be recognized equally in the program,” said Kramer. “This is our goal. There are many ways to do this and we are working on it now with ABC.”
how to Will Smith Kramer said he will not be a topic of discussion or joke at the next Oscars: “We want to move forward and have an Oscar that celebrates cinema. That’s our focus right now.” He explained, “It’s our 95th anniversary. We want to return to a show that honors the film and the 95th Academy Awards. This is a time to really think about our association, all areas of commerce, our changing industry and our fans. There are ways to do this that are fun and authentic, and that relate to our mission to honor excellence in filmmaking.”
Meanwhile, Kramer, who has distinguished himself as a fundraiser and played a key role in the Museum of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which he ended up managing, revealed that the museum generated more than $40 million in revenue last year, making it leader to create a new one. Academy’s Office of Revenue and Business Development. “The Oscars and all Oscar show-related contracts generated about 95% of our annual income,” he explained. “But because we opened the museum and created a very strong development department tasked with generating diversified revenue streams through corporate sponsorships, foundation support, individual donations, board support, ticket sales, retail and restaurants, all contracts . The Oscars now bring in 70% of our revenue.
Cramer also said he thinks the Academy could help ABC boost the Oscars and make the broadcast more financially viable.
As for ratings, Cramer believes the Academy should do more to promote Oscar nominees “fairly across all of our social channels” because “it creates great Oscar prep.” We want to create a lot of energy around our members working on the first few films, many of which will be nominated, and after the nominations, really create some energy, enthusiasm and awareness around our nominees. I think this is crucial for people to agree and stay interested. You have to adjust it. ”
As for helping make the show more profitable, he says, “We’re working with them on pre-show and show-related ad sales to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help ABC. Big sponsors at the table. He cited Rolex, the watch company, as an example: “I started talking to Rolex in 2013 when I was organizing a fundraiser for the museum, and the numbers I give are public, so I don’t speak outside of school. . , but they gave us $20 million in gifts to name one of our galleries. After we had that discussion and we realized that we were in agreement about our commitment to filmmaking and moving forward with the future of filmmaking, they decided they wanted to buy an Oscar ad. Now they also support our Governors Awards and our Museum Gala. So there are ways to have initial conversations with partners. He added, “Bloomberg Philanthropies is another great partner that supports us in many ways.”
Cramer also said that one of the topics he plans to discuss at an upcoming all-member meeting is the Academy’s “commitment standards”, which were announced in 2020, drawing backlash from some, and will take effect at the next Oscars. season. Kramer said that we “strongly believe” in the requirements that if not met, the film will not qualify for the Oscar for best picture. “We don’t want legislation on art. It’s not about this. We want directors to keep making the movies they want to make. I’m pleased to announce that all of last year’s Best Picture nominees ranked according to our standards of inclusion.” He continued, “At the all-members meeting, we’ll talk more about this because it’s such a big talking point for our members. members and we want to make it very clear that we don’t want it to be tedious or punitive; we want it to be a collaboration.”
Finally, following this week’s announcement that the Spirit Awards have adopted gender-neutral acting categories, Kramer was asked if the Academy is considering a similar move. “We are doing due diligence,” he said, “but there is no plan at this time to activate it.”
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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