Cinemaa curious strategy that the Oscar uses to avoid empty seats at the gym ceremonies, ensures that Dolby Theater always seems full during the ceremony for the newsroom

With the proximity of Oscar 2025which happens next Sunday,March 2curiosities about the backstage of the awards gain repercussions on social networks. Among them, the way the Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences prevents empty seats from appearing in the live broadcast of the event.

To ensure that the Dolby Theaterin Los Angeles, is always visually completed, the organization of the award has Voluntary extras, known as “holes”. These participants have the function of occupying temporarily unoccupied chairs, including those of nominees and guests who are absent for a few minutes.

The selection process of “hole-tape”

According to a report from Vanity Fairpublished in 2014, the selection of these extras involved a careful analysis. Candidates needed to provide identification and passport documents, and have a relationship with members of the academy.

In 2022, however, the number of vacancies fell considerably, prioritizing members of the academy who could not invite to the ceremony. According to the The Hollywood Reportercurrently, only relatives of employees of the ABC (broadcaster responsible for the transmission) and Pricewaterhousecoopers (Company that accounts for Oscar votes) can qualify to occupy these seats.

Rules and restrictions for extras

The “holes” need to follow strict rules during the event. The garment should be discreet, with simple suits and dresses, avoiding any prominence in the crowd.

In addition, there are restrictions on the behavior of these extras:

• They cannot interact with official nominees or guests.
• They should maintain a neutral expression, avoiding drawing cameras attention.
• They cannot attend the bar or consume food at the event.
• Some are positioned in obstructed view seats, where they would not be real guests.

Despite the rigor of the rules, the experience of participating in the Oscar is still disputed. Although there is no official platform for registration in the extras program, websites like Gotham Casting, Audience Unlimited and SeatfillerSandmore make similar selections for events such as the Emmy and the MTV Movie Awards.

The sale of Oscar statuettes

Another curiosity that circulates before the ceremony is about the sale of Oscar statuettes. According to the rules, winners and their heirs can only sell the prize if they offer first to Academy for the symbolic value of US $ 1.

Each trophy, made of bronze and gold bathed, costs approximately $ 400 to be produced. This regulation seeks to preserve the prestige of the award and prevent statuettes from becoming trade items.

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