Online Oscar Voting Seems To Work. Why Not Add Some Policy Questions?
deadline.comOne thing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has gotten right—as far as we know—is online Oscar voting. The process is fast, secure and presumably accurate.
In fact, members are in the middle of it right now, final balloting having begun on Thursday, with an expected close next Tuesday, just five days before the show.Amazing.
The polling seems to come off without a hitch every year. That’s more than you can say for the last few Presidential elections.So here’s a thought: Why not use the awards vote—either the final round, or the nominations ballot, it doesn’t matter which—to get the Academy’s 9,500 voting members more involved with governance?Not with petty issues, or with personnel decisions.
Those will always be handled by the staff or the Board of Governors. Nor with the fine points of finance, administration or legal status—most members are no more interested in meddling with those matters than Academy leaders are in having them meddle.But an occasional member referendum, attached to the awards ballot, could be a powerful tool in finding or restoring consensus around issues that affect the Academy’s identity and mission.Awards Season Calendar: Dates For The Oscars, PGA, WGA, Grammys & MoreIt’s no secret that members are restless, having been caught off guard by a top-down decision to edge eight awards—including those for Film Editing and Original Score—off the live show, and onto a canned presentation.
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