Part of my Contenders section is dedicated to the Awards Calendar and today the Academy announced their full schedule for this year’s race to the 85th Academy Awards.
To my surprise, there was a discrepancy between what I had and what was announced. It turns out the Academy widened the gap between the announcement of the Oscar nominations and the 2013 Oscars by five days, moving the nomination date from January 15, 2013 to January 10.
The move was described in an accompanying press release as “an effort to provide members and the public a longer period of time to see the nominated films.” Interesting reasoning considering it also gives member five fewer days to see movies before nominating them.
Here’s the full schedule:
Friday, November 30, 2012: Official Screen Credits due
Saturday, December 1, 2012: Governors Awards presentation
Monday, December 17, 2012: Nominations voting begins
Thursday, January 3, 2013: Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, January 10, 2013: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT
Monday, February 4, 2013: Nominees Luncheon
Friday, February 8, 2013: Final voting begins
Saturday, February 9, 2013: Scientific and Technical Awards presentation
Tuesday, February 19, 2013: Final voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, February 24, 2013: 85th Academy Awards presentation
This season will also mark the first time Academy members will be able to vote electronically if they so choose. They say they “conducted extensive research and held numerous focus groups with its members to ensure a smooth transition and widespread adoption.” How do you focus group that? What could have possibly been so confusing that it needed confirmation they could handle it?
Nevertheless, the dates are now official and the nominations and presentation are up-to-date and accurate on my Awards Calendar along with several other key dates. You can click here for my full schedule, which will be adding a few more dates in the coming weeks as guilds and organizations get their ducks in a row.
