As L.A. slowly begins to recover from the wildfires, the Academy has announced changes to key dates for the 97th Oscars season. “We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang in an official statement. “The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”
On January 13, the Oscars nominations voting period was extended through Friday, January 17, at 5 p.m. Pacific Time (PT). The nominations announcement has been rescheduled for Thursday, January 23, at 5:30 a.m. PT. This will be a virtual event without any in-person media coverage. One departure from tradition this year is the cancellation of the Oscars Nominees Luncheon, initially scheduled for Monday, February 10. The Academy will instead be reallocating $250,000 from the planned luncheon as donations to the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s wildlife relief efforts. To date, the Fund has contributed a total of $1 million.
The 97th Academy Awards is still scheduled for Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The ceremony will be televised live at 4 p.m. PT on ABC, streamed live on Hulu, and aired live to more than 200 territories worldwide.
“We will get through this together and bring a sense of healing to our global film community,” read the Academy’s official statement.
On January 7, Los Angeles became unrecognizable as multiple wildfires engulfed the area. At the peak of the fires, approximately 200,000 people were placed under evacuation orders. As of January 16, at least 27 people are confirmed dead due to the fires. However, this number is likely an underestimation, as many remain missing and have yet to be located under the rubble. Entire houses and neighborhoods have been destroyed beyond repair, leaving many displaced and homeless. On January 16, financial services firm J.P. Morgan estimated the total economic losses to be around $50 billion.
