August 31, 2009

The Academy makes a rule change involving Best Picture

Indeed, they've addressed (we hope) some of the concerns about a small voting block being able to strong arm their way into a victory for a certain film with this new field of 10. The entire article from Steve Pond can be found here, but this is the basic premise of it:

Instead of just voting for one nominee, the way Academy members have almost always done on the final ballot, voters will be asked to rank all 10 nominees in order of preference -- and the results will be tallied using the complicated preferential system, which has been used for decades during the nominating process but almost never on the final ballot.

As a result, a film could be the first choice of the largest number of voters, but find itself nudged out of the top prize by another movie that got fewer number one votes but more twos and threes.

It sounds crazy, but there’s good reason to make the change at a time when dividing the vote among an expanded slate of 10 nominees could otherwise allow a film to win with fewer than 1,000 votes (out of the nearly 6,000 voting members).

-Sounds like a good plan, though the issue of block voting getting a film a nomination remains a concern...thoughts?

9 comments:

  1. it's a step in the right direction, but more work needs to be done, I think...

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  2. I agree more needs to be done but it does make it more...accurate in picking one final winner.

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  3. I think this year is in many ways a test run...if something fishy wins, they'll monkey with it more, but I suspect things will go smoothly enough

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  4. Yea I mean I think that 10 is a tad too many I think it should be 6 or 7 but I do like that they are trying to fix the problem. Shows that they do care at least a little what the genpop thinks.

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  5. It sounds very much like the distribution of preferences in elections down here in OZ - not sure about your system over there in the US.

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  6. I think they also need to start getting tough on "for your consideration" and other propoganda used to get films to win noms and trophies. It takes away the level playing field and gives big budget studios and producers the chance to get their work more noticed than more indie productions.

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  7. Yes, this certainly does feel like a test run and I'm sure that's how it will feel for the next couple of years until the Academy figures out if there's a correct formula to boost ratings.

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