Guillermo Del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón & More Speak Out Against Oscar Decision To Tape Delay Categories

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We’re not the only ones reacting to the Oscars tape delay decision with less than excitement. Last year’s Best Director winner Guillermo del Toro, this year’s frontrunner Alfonso Cuarón and others are speaking out about the Academy’s choice to relegate four categories to non-live announcements of their winners. Cinephiles haven’t been happy about any categories being removed from the live broadcast, but learning that Cinematography, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling and Live Action Short will be given short shrift especially rankles those in front of and behind the camera.

READ MORE: Oscars Officially Going Tape Delayed With Four Unexpected Categories

del Toro is (expectedly) most angry about the first two. “If I may: I would not presume to suggest what categories to cut during the Oscars show but – Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft,” he politely but passionately tweeted. “They are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or a literary tradition: they are cinema itself.” The sentiment was echoed by retweets from Edgar Wright, Judd Apatow and every film nerd you know. Also, unsurprisingly, his ride-or-die friend Cuarón weighed in on Twitter, saying, “In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing.” In addition to being a nominee for director, Cuarón is also favored to win Best Cinematography for shooting “Roma” so this may hit particularly close to home.

READ MORE: ABC President Thinks Oscars Controversies Will Benefit Ratings: “The Mystery Has Been Compelling”

But the backlash isn’t just limited to the Oscar nominees and winners who are most likely to be directly affected. “A Quiet Place” is nominated for sound editing, and its writers and producers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods tweeted in solidarity, ““So excited to watch the Oscars this year because it’s a few minutes shorter!” – millennial who still wont watch the Oscars.”

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson quote tweeted The Hollywood Reporter’s announcement of the news with, “Now I have four more reasons to never watch the Oscars.” Seth Rogen, who’s a director on top of his more visible work as an actor, tweeted, “What better way to celebrate achievements in film than to not publicly honor the people’s who’s job it is to literally film things.” Director Lexi Alexander responded to the news with earned fire: “It’s amazing who we think deserves an Academy award at all, who we dump to the tech award show and now, who we decide doesn’t deserve screen time. Meantime…ever tried to make a movie without AD department?”

READ MORE: Emilia Clarke, Jason Momoa, Chadwick Boseman Added To 2019 Oscar Presenters

Award-winning director and cinematographer Reed Morano posted on Instagram, saying “WHEN RATINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE THING YOU’RE CELEBRATING. OF COURSE THE REVENUE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ART! (THAT MAKES THE REVENUE) SO THE EASIEST THING TO DO IS JUST FOLD INTO LINE INSTEAD OF STANDING UP FOR THE ART YOU YOURSELF CREATE. JUST ANOTHER DAY IN HOLLYWOOD, FOLKS. ????????????????????????” This is the one time all caps might be merited.

 

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