The Oscars have made additional changes to this year’s schedule because of the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles. The new schedule will extend the nominations voting window to Jan. 17, push back the date of the nominations announcement to Jan. 23 and cancel the Oscar Nominees Luncheon, AMPAS announced on Monday.
The March 2 date of the 97th Academy Awards ceremony will not change.
The news followed earlier changes made shortly after the wildfires hit last week.
In a statement, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang said, “We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community. The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”
“Due to the still-active fires in the Los Angeles area, we feel it is necessary to extend our voting period and move the date of our nominations announcement to allow additional time for our members,” they continued. “Additionally, as we want to be sensitive to the infrastructure and lodging needs of the region in these next few weeks, it is imperative that we make some changes to our schedule of events, which we believe will have the support of our industry.”
“Our members always share how important it is for us to come together as a community, and we are determined to use this opportunity to celebrate our resilient and compassionate industry. We also look forward to honoring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts,” the message concluded. “We will get through this together and bring a sense of healing to our global film community.”
The nominations voting period, which was originally scheduled to end on Sunday, Jan. 12, and was then extended to Tuesday, Jan. 14, has now been extended through Friday, Jan. 17, which was the original date that nominations were scheduled to be announced.
Nominations will now be announced on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 a.m. PST, with the in-person component of the announcement canceled. Nominees will be revealed in a virtual event with no in-person media coverage.
In addition, the Oscar Nominees Luncheon, originally scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10, has been canceled. The Scientific and Technical Awards, scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18, will be rescheduled for a later date that has yet to be determined.
The changes will not alter the date of the Oscars show, March 2, or the timetable for final voting, which begins on Feb. 11 and ends on Feb. 18.
The new dates are subject to change, according to the Academy.
AMPAS has also made a $750,000 donation to the Motion Picture and Television Fund for victims of the fires.
