Behold the Incredible Shrinking Oscars, Again
How to get people to care and watch again? Producer Michael Shamberg (and Academy litigant) shares his big ideas in a year of more small movies
Part I, Richard Rushfield’s Thoughts
Ready or not, here they are. Oscars 2022.
And clearly, the Academy is no longer trying to dance around the lack of audience around film, they are leaning into it. It's become a point of pride. And if you are Disney/ABC, writing your annual mega-check to license a declining TV asset, well, I’m guessing Dana Walden right about now is probably counting on one hand the number of people who will be on the edge of their seat wondering if Power of the Dog is going to take the big prize and figuring out how to program around that.
Some thoughts on the nominations just unfurled.
First, none of this is a slight on the quality of the films nominated. There are some wonderful ones. Films that, if I'm a film school professor, I'd be excited to show to my students.