Multiple Recent Deaths Puts Extra Pressure On Academy
The Oscars are a time in which not only great achievements of acting, directing, writing, and other filmmaking aspects are recognized, but also a period in which reflection takes place. The event is a cause for great celebration for the films that have been able to ascend above the other productions in the past year, and overall it can be looked upon as a fantastic gathering and honorable evening. While filmmakers may be so good at their craft that they may come across as invincible walks of life, the improbable fortune of death faces us all as humans, and the recent deaths of many cinematic greats has the Academy scrambling for the In Memoriam portion of the Academy Awards.
Early 2014 has brought a whole lot of misfortune to filmmakers. Just in the past two months Philip Seymour Hoffman, Shirley Temple, Tom Sherak, and Harold Ramis have left this earth for the great unknown. Many people are expecting their talents to be recognized in this highly regarded segment of the Oscars, and these names alone are not including other deaths from the past year such as James Gandolfini, Peter O’Toole, Deanna Durbin, Joan Fontaine, Roger Ebert, Ray Dolby, Ray Harryhausen, Paul Walker, and Elmore Leonard.
There is only so much time that can be dedicated to this portion of the awards ceremony, and the order of sequence in which these names will appear for viewers and even the simple fact of the matter of who will make the cut has people biting their nails. It's an emotional sequence of the ceremony, and a lot of people find that certain selections of applause and silence when names flash on the screen make it unfair and almost like a celebrity popularity contest. While the distribution of the little golden statues should be of utmost importance for the Academy, it seems that these deadlines may be the cause of controversy with the awards handed out this year.
[via Variety]
Tom Sherak, Former Academy President, Dies at 68
Tom Sherak, a man who withheld many important film industry roles but is best known for his presidency of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, died on Tuesday in his home in Calabasas, California at the age of 68. His passing was the result of a longtime battle with prostate cancer.
Sherak was known to be a dedicated and loyal worker to all of those who knew him. Last year Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti deemed Sherak as the "film czar" of LA. It was then Tom's mission to bring the filmmaking process back to Hollywood and keep Los Angeles as the film capital of the world.
What he is best known for, however, would be his tireless attempt to bring back ratings to the Oscar award ceremony. He served as the Academy president from 2009 to 2012, and he found a few ways in which to tweak the awards system. His first minor change was the expansion of the number films nominated for best picture from 5 to 10 which would leave room for box office hits that would ultimately draw in more viewers due to their popularity. The other major effort he took part in was the transition of electronic Oscar voting. This made it faster and more efficient for the voters of the Academy from all over the globe to submit their selections. Diversification became anther focus point during his years as president as he attempted to recruit more people of color and younger voters onto the Academy.
Sherak was born in Brooklyn, New York. His successful career started with Paramount in 1970, but he spent 17 years at 20th Century Fox as the executive and also was chairman of the Twentieth Century Fox Domestic Film Group. His longtime efforts in such a make-or-break industry will always be highly regarded as the career field evolves.
[via Variety]