AcademyAwards President David Rubin on Wednesday issued a statement stating that eight awards categories will not be presented live. Instead, they will be handed out off-air an hour before the live broadcast begins.
"Those categories will not be presented in the pre-show nor on the red carpet, instead, the in-person ceremony at the Dolby Theatre will begin one hour earlier to present eight awards categories before the live telecast will begin", Rubin said. "Those presentations will then be edited by our creative and production teams and will be folded seamlessly into the live televised show".
These award categories include documentary short, film editing, makeup/hairstyling, original score, production design, animated short, live-action short, and sound.
Academy Awards President David Rubin issued a letter about recent announcement
© Photo : Twitter/@awards_watch
After carefully listening to feedback and suggestions from the film community and their network partner, the organisers took this step in order to make the Academy Awards more streamlined and television-friendly to increase viewer engagement.
"This has been an important focus of discussion for quite some time. We do this while also remembering the importance of having our nominees relish a once-in-a-lifetime experience", Rubin said.
Disappointed netizens took to the comments section of the post, slamming the organisers' decision.
One Twitter user commented, "It's just unfathomable that the academy wants to cut editing, production design, and score, among others, just to make time for more unfunny jokes from (Oscar host, comedian) Amy Schumer. What an insult to the skilled technicians and craftspersons working on these films".
Another wrote, "Here's an idea, David Rubin: Cut the 'comedy' and the musical numbers. Hand out the awards, one after the other, & give the winners their well-deserved spotlights. The TV audience should not be more important than your own organization's divisions".
"Sorry editing. We gotta edit you out of there so we can make more room for *checks notes* comedy", replied a third.