Some Canadian film industry members are expressing disappointment that several Academy Awards categories will not fully be a part of next month’s live Oscars telecast.

Last week the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sent a letter to members saying eight categories — film editing, production design, makeup and hairstyling, sound, original score, documentary short, live-action short and animated short — will be presented at a ceremony before the March 27 broadcast on ABC and CTV. Edited versions of those winners’ speeches will then be inserted into the broadcast.

In a statement, the Canadian Cinema Editors organization says the craft categories “are key creative partners in storytelling, and this decision serves to undermine the value of their contributions to the filmmaking process.”

Montreal’s Patrice Vermette, an Oscar nominee for Best Production Design on Dune, tells Playback Daily the news came as “a bit of a shock to say the least.”

“Naively, I had always been under the impression that the Academy supported and promoted each craft equally,” Vermette, who is nominated alongside Zsuzsanna Sipos, says. “I’m extremely disappointed.

“It seems that television now dictates how cinema should be celebrated. The same television stations that cut out the end credits after presenting a movie or roll them at extra speed so nobody can actually read them… has finally won.”

According to the Associated Press, the letter from Academy president David Rubin said the change was necessary “in an effort to increase viewer engagement and keep the show vital, kinetic, and relevant.”

But the Canadian Cinema Editors says it feels “the exclusion of the short categories means that emerging artists who represent the future of our industry — many of whom come from historically underrepresented groups — are also being actively devalued.”

“In light of their continued commitment to equity and representation in the industry, we hope that the Academy will reconsider this decision,” adds the group. “We call on the Academy to celebrate and lift up equally ALL the artists from the many creative disciplines that contributed to the best films of 2022.”

Other Canadians nominated in the categories affected by the cuts this year include Halifax-raised director Ben Proudfoot for Best Documentary Short for The Queen of Basketball, produced under his Los Angeles banner Breakwater Studios. Toronto producer Geoff McLean is named in the same category this year for Netflix’s short doc Audible.

Also up for best production design are Tamara Deverell of Toronto and Shane Vieau, who hails from Dartmouth, N.S., for the Toronto-shot Nightmare Alley.

Meanwhile, Montreal-born hair and makeup artist Donald Mowat is nominated alongside Love Larson and Eva von Bahr. And the National Film Board of Canada co-production Affairs of the Art is in the running for Best Animated Short.

“As a public producer and distributor, and the organization with more Oscar nominations (76) than any other film organization based outside of Hollywood, the NFB is disappointed that there will be no live broadcast of the award announcements for films and individuals nominated in short-film categories this year,” says the NFB in a statement provided to Playback Daily.

“As the Oscars play an amplifying role, the NFB is concerned that this decision will serve to further marginalize short films, which already struggle to find large audiences. Nonetheless, the broadcast of winners’ thank-you speeches during the ceremony will allow them to benefit from one of the world’s most prestigious international showcases.”

Vermette says his parents were film lovers who always made the family watch all the credits roll “until the very last one” before allowing everyone to walk out of the theatre or the television room. It was out of respect for everyone’s hard work involved in the production and inspired him to do what he does today.

Cutting out some of the categories from the Oscars telecast makes Vermette “extremely sad times for filmmaking and the Academy,” he adds.

“Divisions have been created instead of celebrating individual achievements towards a common goal,” says Vermette. “It carries out the mainstream idea that some are more equal than others. To the public eye, the eight categories are now proven to be of minimal importance in the equation by the Academy itself. Instead of educating, an easier decision has been made to please the television broadcaster. It seems that no argument could be made or heard to reverse this judgment.”

This isn’t the first time the Academy has tried to tweak the Oscars show, a notoriously long event that has suffered from slumping ratings in recent years. Last year’s numbers on ABC sank to a record low of an average 10.4 million viewers in the U.S., according to Nielsen data.

The past three Oscars shows have been hostless, for instance, while this year will see a new category called Oscars Fan Favorite and a twist of three hosts: Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall.

Vermette says he feels the “Academy has made it clear that the Oscars’ purpose is to be a variety television show with a movie thematic. Purely made for entertainment. Not to promote the crafts, not to celebrate movie making anymore.”

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