Opposition to the Academy’s plan to award eight Oscars prior to the live telecast continues to grow, with more than 350 new names — including more than a dozen Oscar-winning editors, cinematographers and production designers — added to the petition sent last week to Academy president David Rubin urging a reversal of the plan.
Among the industry professionals signing are Oscar-winning cinematographers John Seale (“The English Patient”), John Toll (“Braveheart”) and Dean Semler (“Dances With Wolves”), and Oscar-winning editors Richard Chew and Paul Hirsch (“Star Wars”), Mikkel Neilsen (“The Sound of metal”), Pietro Scalia (“JFK”) and Zach Staenberg (“The Matrix”).
Oscar-winning production designers Hannah Beachler (“Black Panther”), Barbara Ling (“once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), Adam Stockhausen (“Grand Budapest Hotel”) and David and Sandy Wasco (“La La Land”) also signed on.
Cinematography will be presented during the live show, but editing and production design are among the eight awards to be presented during the 4 p.m. Sunday hour on March 27, with edited excerpts of the nomination announcements and winner speeches to be included in the live show beginning at 5 p.m. The other six categories are original score, makeup and hairstyling, sound, documentary short, live-action short and animated short.
“Given the overwhelming response to the open letter of March 9,” says the revised petition, “below is an updated copy that now includes the names of more than 350 additional industry members who have asked to sign it. We urge you and the awards committee to reverse your decision to move these eight awards off this year’s live Oscars telecast.”
The original petition made a strong statement about the value of craftsmanship in the collaborative art of filmmaking. “Critical artistic crafts like music scoring, film editing, production design, makeup, hairstyling and sound will always deserve the same respect and recognition as crafts like acting, directing and visual effects,” it read. “To diminish any of these individual categories in the pursuit of ratings and short-term profits does irreparable damage to the Academy’s standing as impartial arbiters and responsible stewards of our industry’s most important awards.
“Seeking new audiences by making the telecast more entertaining is a laudable and important goal, but this cannot be achieved by demeaning the very crafts that, in their most outstanding expressions, make the art of filmmaking worthy of celebration.”
The original 70-plus names included such notables as directors James Cameron, Joe Roth and Guillermo del Toro; producers Kathleen Kennedy and Lili Fini Zanuck; writer Tony Kushner; costume designer Milena Canonero; production designers Dean Tavoularis, Dante Ferretti and Geoffrey Kirkland; cinematographers Dante Spinotti and Vittorio Storaro; and composers John Williams, Howard Shore, Alexandre Desplat, Hildur Guðnadóttir, John Corigliano, Dave Grusin, Steven Price, Jan Kaczmarek and Tan Dun.
The new signers include:
Felicity Abbott
Cate Adair
Evan Ahlgren
Floyd Albee
John David Allen
Stephen Altman
Ruth Ammon
Steve Arnold
Jeff Asher
Howard Atherton
Victoria Auth
Spencer Averick
Nicole Baer
Trevor Baker
Cecilia Banck
Chris Banting
Matthew Barbato
Matthew Barber, ACE
Antonia De Barros
Linda Bass
Matt Batchelor
Hannah Beachler
Rhet Bear
Jenny Beavan
Wendy Benbrook
Larry Bennett
Karen Berch
Ryan Berg
Arjun Bhasin
Kevin Bird
Sue Blainey, ACE
Dave Blass
Stuart Blatt
Oliver Bokelberg, ASC
Cameron Boling
Michael Bolton
Kyle Bond
Marissa Borsetto
Merideth Boswell
Mark Bourgeois
Eric Branco
John Brawley, ACS
Robert Brinkmann
Lisa Bromwell, ACE
Bill Brzeski
Gae Buckley
Nick Bupp
David Burr, ACS
Jenny Burton
Tom Burton
Eugenio Caballero
Joseph Calloway
Charisse Cardenas
Erik Carlson
Jim Carretta
Stephanie Carroll
Stephen H. Carter
Raymond Chan
Richard Chew, ACE
Pernille Bech Christensen
Daniel Clancy
Bianca Cline
Jake Cohen
Spencer Combs
Hillary Cook
Kairo Courts
Jarrett Craig
Brad Creasser
Jordan Crockett
Tom Cross
Michael Crow
Brent Crowell
Nathan Crowley
Elliot Davis
Eniola Dawodu
Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC
Paco Delgado
Jim Denault
Cece Destefano
Mark Doering-Powell, ASC
Stuart Dryburgh, ASC
Amy Duddleston, ACE
Denny Dugally
Jen Dunlap
Annie Eifrig
Andrew Eisen, ACE
Mindy Elliott
Frederick Elmes, ASC
Samantha Englender
Nicoletta Ercole
Greg T. Evans
Sigurdur Eythors
Tamar Federknopp
Sue Federman, ACE
Kathleen Felix-Hager
Diana Fishman
Wayne Fitterman
Peter Flinckenberg
Ann F Foley
Jace Ford
Bryce Fortner
Lesley Robson Foster
Keith Fraase
Richard Francis-Bruce, ACE
Sarah Frank
Jonathan Freeman
Mark Friedberg
Tak Fujimoto, ASC
David Gallego, ADFC
Gian Ganziano
Julie Garces
Christian Gazal
David Geddes, ASC, CSC
Jenny Gering
David Gersh
Kiki Giet
John Gilbert
Megan Gill
Alan Gilmore
Dana E. Glauberman, ACE
Catherine Goldschmidt
John P. Goldsmith
Jess Gonchor
Nikoya G Gonzalez
Ben Goodman
Hamish Gough
David Grace
Jacques Gravett, ACE
Rick Grayson
Clay Griffith
Heather Griffith
John Guleserian
Theresa Guleserian
Banner Gwin
Debbie Haeusler
Andrew Hafitz
Barbara Halperin
Michael Hanan
Caroline Hanania
Scott Hanson, ACE
Clayton Hartley
Pavlina Hatoupis
Lee Haugen
Ashley Heathcock
Betsy Heimann
Bill Henry, ACE
Jon Henson
Sandra Hernandez
Scott Hill, ACE
Kathryn Himoff, ACE
Marcia Hinds
Paul Hirsch, ACE
Sunny Hodge
Christian Hoffman, ACE
Robert Hoffman
Lisa Holguin
Susannah H. Honey
Phyllis Housen
Maysie Hoy, ACE
Lynarion Hubbard
Michelle Hunter
Nick Huoy, ACE
Mark Hutman
Alberto Iglesias
Kim Jennings
Maren Jensen
Allyson C. Johnson, ACE
Jonsi
Bengt Jönsson
Georgia Kacandes
Corey Kaplan
Michael Kaplan
Meghan Kasperlik
Kenji Katori, AMC
Myron Kerstein, ACE
Lilly Kilvert
Robb Wilson King
Natalie Kingston
Jamie Kirkpatrick
Valerie Klarich
Bill Klayer
Elizabeth Kling
Akis Konstantakopoulos, GSC
Eric Koretz
Petra Korner
Jeffrey Kurland
Ben Kutchins
Serge Ladouceur, CSC
Chris Lavasseur
Melissa Lawson Cheung
Dan Leigh
Mara Lepere-Schloop
Deven Letendre
Peter Levy, ASC, ACS
George Liddle
Barbara Ling
Jody Lee Lipes, ASC
Felicia Livingston
Gordon Lonsdale, ASC
John Lord Booth
Nick Lundy
Giao-Chau Ly
Susan Lyall
Jonathan Lynn
Glen A. Macpherson, ASC, CSC
Molly Maginnis
Will Maloney
Denis Maloney, ASC
Mikki Mamaril
Rudy Mance
John Mangia
Devin Mann
Mark Manos, ACE
Duane Manwiller
Pamela March
Tom Marquardt
Kindra Marra
Steve Mason, ACS
Daniele Massaccesi
Arthur Max
Ina Mayhew
Stephen McCabe
Adam McDaid
Michael McDonough, ASC
Alex McDowell
Amy McGrath
Billyray McKenna
Akin McKenzie
Olivia McManus
Peter McNulty
Stephen McNutt, ASC, CSC
Robert Mead
Alejandro Mejia, AMC
Peter Menzies Jr.
Michael R. Miller, ACE
Paul Millspaugh, ACE
Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC
Craig Mizrahi
Eloi Moli Aec
Kramer Morgenthau, ASC
Alana Morshead
Peter Mosiman
John Mott
Franzis Muller
Karen Murphy
Fred Murphy, ACE
Holland Murray
Ann Murtha
Ariana Nakata
Guillermo Navarro, AMC, ASC
Keith Neely
Mikkel E.G. Neilsen, ACE
Christopher Nelson, ACE
Alex Nepomniaschy, ASC
John Newby, ASC
John Nguyen
David Nicksay
Anne Nikitin
Vern Nobles, ASC
Toby Oliver, ACS
Trent Opaloch
Nate Orloff
Tim Orr
Tommaso Ortino
Stefano Ortolani
Abby O’sullivan
Antonio Paladino
Lyn Paolo
Ron Patane, ACE
Victoria Paul
Arianne Phillips
Dean Pollack
Lahly Poore-Ericson
Sean Porter
Martin Preiss
Jaron Presant, ASC
Jake Pushinsky, ACE
Carol Ramsey
Fred Raskin, ACE
O’Shea Read
Adam Reamer
Sarah C. Reeves
Luke Reichle
Joe Reidy
Fernando Reyes-Allendes, AMC
Andrew Reznik
Shane Richardson
Geoffrey Richman, ACE
Lisa Rinzler
Lesley Robson Foster
Bill Roe, ASC
Meghan C. Rogers
Pete Romano, ASC
Patricia Rommel
Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir
Cecilia Roque
Steven Rosenblum, ACE
Amy Roth
Beth Rubino
Michael Ruscio, ACE
Josh Saideman
David Salter, ACE
Roland Sanchez
Ron Sanders, CCE, ACE
Pietro Scalia
Glen Scantlebury, ACE
Roberto Schaefer
Wedigo Schultzendorff
John Schwartzman, ASC
Deborah Scott
Ian Seabrook
John Seale, ASC, ACS
Christian Sebaldt
Tari Segal
Nanu Segal, BSC
Dean Semler, ASC, ACS
Luis Sequeira
Bob S Shaw
Naomi Shohan
Terilyn A. Shropshire, ACE
Adam Silver
Enzo Sisti
Charlie Skouras
Spyros Skouras
Grant Smith
David L. Snyder
Joan Sobel, ACE
Tim Squyres, ACE
Zach Staenberg, ACE
Jeremy Stanbridge
Thomas Scott Stanton
Craig Stearns
Eve Stewart
Melissa Stewart
Adam Stockhausen
Tom Struthers
Robb Sullivan
Cynthia Summers
Paul Swain
Peggy Tachdjian
Yasu Tanida, ASC
Anna Terrazas
Brent Thomas
Dylan Tichenor, ACE
Tink
John Toll, ASC
Camilla Toniolo
Liz Toonkel
Melissa Toth
Clayton Townsend
Patrick Tuck
Karoliina Tuovinen
Scott Turner
Sandra Valde-Hansen
Becky Valente
Theo Van De Sande, ASC
Gregory Van Horn
Javiera Varas
Roger Vernon
Christine Wada
Bill Wages, ASC
Kasia Walicka Maimone
Joe Walker
Jan Walker
Melissa Walker
Peter Walpole
David Walsh Heinz
Mark Warner, ACE
David Wasco
Sandy Wasco
Korey Washington
Dennis Washington
Loren Weeks
Ari Wegner, ACS
Pixie Wespiser
Amy Wheeler
Anastasia White
Wendy Williams
Alexander Witt, ASC
Dariusz Wolski
Mark Worthington
Ed Wu
Ray Yamagata
Robert Yeoman, ASC
Mira Yong
Alexis Zabe, AMC, ASC
Lauren Zak
Haris Zambarloukos, BSC, GSC
Dan Zimmerman, ACE
Sonia Zimmerman Costa
Tim Zuhrstedt, ASC
