After the debacle of the Golden Globes Awards this year, now it is turn for the Oscars. The ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been successful in suspending the Globes this year and now it has made the fate of the Oscars uncertain as well.
However, the broadcast of the 34th annual People’s Choice Awards on Tuesday night must have definitely brought a breather to the sponsors of the Oscars. In absence of the writers, the telecast of the People’s Choice Awards on CBS was a modest, low profile ceremony with pre-recorded celebrity clippings and acceptance speeches. A statement from the WGA read,
The WGA [Writers Guild of America] has already said it was not going to grant a waiver to the Oscars. We could see the same exact scenario as with the Golden Globes, where there will be a lot of talk and then no Oscar show after all.
However, on a brighter side I read a news-article that ABC network, in charge of telecasting the Academy awards this year on 24th February, is going ahead with the groundwork for the ceremony inspite of the writers’ protests.
President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Sid Ganissaid;
We’re moving ahead with our plans. That’s our job, to prepare a show and that’s what we’re doing.
The academy is the authority in charge of presenting the Oscars. According to some Hollywood experts, there is a high chance of the Oscars being boycotted by the writers’ guild unless the Academy and the WGA come up with a mutually agreeable negotiation shortly. Nellie Andreeva of the Hollywood Reporter voiced this concern by saying,
It’s anybody’s guess how it’s going to go. For some reason, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has taken a wait-and-see approach...But if they don’t come to an agreement, the Oscars could be the next casualty.
Renowned Hollywood actor George Clooney was not too hopeful either. He said,
The big hope is that all these guys get into a room and start to solve this and lock the doors and don’t come out until they solve it.
Only two awards show have received a waiver from the WGA till date: The Critics Choice Awards this week and the Spirit Awards for independent films, which is scheduled to be held the day preceding the Oscars. Every year millions of people across the globe watch the broadcast of the world’s most popular awards function-the Oscars. We can all keep our fingers crossed and hope for the settlement of a miraculous agreement between the Academy and the WGA which will eventually lead to a smooth screening of the Oscars in February.
Source: abcnews
