So they can have a packed a house for the in-person Academy Award ceremony later this month, the Academy is considering Oscar nominees “essential workers.”
When you think of “essential workers” in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, your mind probably goes to people like healthcare professionals, firefighters, stuff like that. But what about…actors and actresses nominated for Academy Awards?
In a letter to its membership, the Academy announced that they are indeed covered ahead of this year’s live, in-person ceremony on April 25. Variety got ahold of it:
"Those involved in the Oscars production, like nominees and their guest, qualify for the essential work purpose waiver, and therefore are permitted to travel to and from the testing center, rehearsals, and Academy-organized activities during the lead up to the Oscars production, including, of course, the award show. The organizers of the Oscars are implementing a required quarantine to capture the risk of each person attending the event."
Essentially, the Academy is saying that the Oscars will be shot like a television show or movie and that the attendees are part of the production, which makes them “essential workers.” That’s how actors and actresses have been allowed to keep working on TV show and movie sets during the pandemic.
Mind you, the pandemic is not over. In fact, cases are on the rise all around the world, including the United States. You might that it’s a bad idea to do an in-person ceremony at all, but the Academy is dead set on it, with producers Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins writing earlier that “we feel the virtual thing will diminish those efforts.” What they failed to realize is that a lot of Oscar nominees don’t reside in the United States and most weren’t ready to hop on an international flight with a worldwide pandemic on, hence the new letter, which includes travel guidelines:
"If you travel into Los Angeles County from outside of California, you need to self-quarantine for 10 days after you arrive and may not interact with anyone during those 10 days except the people in your household, i.e. people with whom you live. If you travel into Los Angeles County solely for essential work purposes, you still need to self-quarantine (when not working) for 10 days and may not interact with people other than those necessary to conduct your essential work."
If you’re traveling domestically or are a low-risk international traveler, you must arrive in LA by April 20. High-risk international travelers must arrive by April 17. In addition to that, all those attending will have to take at least two COVID-19 PCR tests through the Academy’s chosen vendor and have three tests leading up to the main event. The Oscar and guests were expected to submit their travel and quarantine plans to the Academy no later than yesterday (April 8), with time for revisions up until April 12.
It seems unnecessary to go through all this trouble when the event can just be done online — the Golden Globes did it, after all. And they could still plan a live ceremony for 2022, when things will hopefully be much better and safer. It just feels silly to go through the entire process laid out by the Academy to get to a ceremony where you may or may not win.
And no offense to the incredible actors, producers and other professionals who may attend, but bestowing “essential worker” status on them for an award show seems a little tasteless. And even if the individual nominee doesn’t want to do all of this, their studio may ask them to.
In any case, the 93rd Academy Awards will air live on April 25 on ABC, filmed from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, as well as the Dolby Theatre.
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h/t The A.V. Club