The Gold Knight: Save the date, 85th Oscars on Feb. 24th (updated)
Written by James A. Molnar | The Gold Knight | jmolnar@toledofreepress.com
Continuing the recent tradition of presenting its golden statuettes at the end of February, the motion picture academy announced Wednesday that its 85th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013.
While there were rumors the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was looking into a January ceremony date, it appears the Academy decided to stick to the last Sunday in February. Deadline.com’s Pete Hammond reported in November that finding an earlier ceremony date was problematic, with the NFL taking up dates for games and Feb. 3′s Super Bowl.
There was a small change with the date of nominations announcement, however. It has been moved up a week and a half — to Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013 Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, 40 45 days before the ceremony. This year’s nominees were announced on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 33 days before the ceremony.
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The ceremony will take place at the Hollywood & Highland Center, in the theater formerly known as the Kodak.
UPDATE: Other keys dates were announced Sept. 18 by the Academy. Nominations were moved five days earlier — than the date announced in March — to Jan. 10 “in an effort to provide members and the public a longer period of time to see the nominated films,” according to the Academy.
Electronic voting will also be an option for members, as previously announced as a possibility, in specific categories. “In the pre-Nominations phase, members will continue to vote via paper ballot in eight categories due to specialized screening schedules and processes,” the news release said. “Those categories are Animated Feature Film, Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling and Visual Effects.”
Key dates:
- Friday, Nov. 30, 2012: Official Screen Credits due
- Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012: Governors Awards presentation
- Monday, Dec. 17, 2012: Nominations voting begins
- Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013: Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT
- Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater (five days earlier than previously announced)
- Monday, Feb. 4, 2013: Nominees Luncheon
- Friday, Feb. 8, 2013: Final voting begins
- Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013: Scientific and Technical Awards presentation
- Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013: Final voting ends 5 p.m. PT
- Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013: 85th Academy Awards presentation
A host for the ceremony should be announced later this year. Billy Crystal was named host for the 84th Academy Awards on Nov. 10, 2011.
Previous Oscar Nights
A January ceremony would have been unprecedented for the Oscars. Over the past eight decades, more than half of the Academy Awards ceremonies have been held in March (45, to be exact). About a quarter of the ceremonies were held in April (23). Seven ceremonies in the past decade have been held in February; five ceremonies in the first two decades were also held during the second month of the year. The 1st Academy Awards were held May 16, 1929. Three were held in November — the 3rd, 4th and 5th.
Thus the Academy sticks to its tradition and next year’s show will be two days earlier than this year’s ceremony. The red carpet will be rolled out on Feb. 24, 2013.
For more news and information about the Academy and the Oscars, visit Oscars.org.
Toledo Free Press Lead Designer and Film Editor James A. Molnar blogs about all things Oscar at TheGoldKnight.com.
Tags: 85th Oscars, Academy Awards, James A. Molnar, Oscars, The Gold Knight, The Oscars
