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Awards Season is Upon Us, and Here’s Why it Still Matters | Features | LIVING LIFE FEARLESS

Awards Season is Upon Us, and Here’s Why it Still Matters

They say that there are only two seasons in Los Angeles – summer and awards season. You bet! It’s one of the most important and eventful times of the year in the entertainment capital of the world where the best and brightest in the industry come together to recognize their peers’ hard work and talent in the art and craft of storytelling.

The past couple of years has disrupted the flow and landscape of these annual award show due to the pandemic as well as being crippled by scandals and controversies for their lack of diversity. After a tumultuous period, award shows have stepped up their game and revamped their system to embrace the new era of the entertainment industry. Let’s take a deeper look inside the exclusive world of awards shows.

The Order of Business

It’s hard to miss when awards season is in session, simply because it’s all that anyone can seem to think and talk about. The process starts when screeners are sent out to every studio executive, director, producer, critic, and guild member in hopes of getting their sought-after vote. Also, million-dollar campaigns by way of print and online ads, events, parties, screenings, and Q&As are fully enforced by studios and production companies to promote potential award-winning films and put them on the voters’ radar.

In case you haven’t noticed, the best studio-produced films and high-budget independent films are released toward the end of the year to make it in time for the holidays when people are on their break as well as to ensure that voters will have a better memory of the film for when it’s time to lock in their votes.

As the new year rings in, Oscar nominations voting will begin and the Golden Globe Awards ceremony kicks off the festivities on the first week of the year. All weekends from January to March will be occupied by prominent ceremonies such as Critics’ Choice Awards, Producers Guild of America Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Directors Guild Awards, Grammy Awards, Writers Guild of America Awards, BAFTA, Film Independent Spirit Awards, and will culminate with the Oscars.

Is It a Necessity or Luxury?

Back in our formative years, it was instilled in us that receiving gold stars, merits, or awards are indicators of good behavior and excellence, and the same principle applies to the entertainment industry. Not only does it recognize the hard work, brilliance, and ingenuity of above and below-the-line individuals but also gives the appropriate attention and exposure to a variety of films and TV series from a vast library of content that the public wouldn’t have otherwise known.

Considering the fact that it costs millions of dollars to put together a film or a TV show, getting a nomination or award adds to the “currency” of the material, actor, executives, studio, and crew behind it, which leads to more projects, investors, and profit.

For the past years, it’s hard to deny that the award shows’ viewership has dwindled due to controversies such as lack of diversity, host preference, bribery, credibility, organizational politics, and whatnot. However, due to the remarkable transformations in Hollywood, award shows have also changed their culture and programming to ensure that they are recognizing individuals and masterpieces from all over the world that truly contribute to the conversation.

The long-running controversy of inequality and lack of representation encapsulated by the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite is slowly becoming a thing of the past, and now we’re seeing more BIPOC, AAPI, and Latinx artists and films get their long-overdue recognition in the big leagues.

This year alone, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All at Once was the most nominated film this awards season with a whopping eleven nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, with the first Asian leading actress Michelle Yeoh and actor Ke Huy Quan finally being at the forefront after decades of working in the industry.

While we haven’t fully gotten to where it should exactly be, this is a step forward in the right direction. We have yet to see more female directors such as Charlotte Wells, Sarah Polley, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Maria Schrader who directed some of the Oscar-nominated films get recognized in this male-dominated category.

“While all of these women—and their work—are more than deserving, most entertainment industry pundits didn’t expect a woman to be nominated in the category this year. Each year, films directed by women struggle to break through in the awards campaigns. This year, then, is just a disappointing moment after a couple of years of what felt like real progress—let’s hope it’s an outlier,” via Time.

When done right, award shows serve as an important platform to inspire artists, creators, and companies to constantly express themselves and turn their dreams into reality despite the challenges that come with achieving them. Since arts and entertainment are necessary to our holistic growth and development, we must allow these platforms to continue to open a world of endless possibilities and progress the future of storytelling to create a better tomorrow.

Damaged City Festival 2019 | Photos | LIVING LIFE FEARLESS

CULTURE (counter, pop, and otherwise) and the people who shape it.

Damaged City Festival 2019 | Photos | LIVING LIFE FEARLESS

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