It’s Refreshing to See the Academy Listen and Add the Correct New Oscar Categories

Last week, word came down from AMPAS that at the100th Academy Awards, we’d be getting a new Oscar category in Best Stunt Design. This came on the heels of the 98th Academy Awards next year being set to be the first to feature Best Achievement in Casting. These new Oscar categories are not just exciting, but show that the Academy is at a point where they’re listening to the right people, with potentially very fun results to come. You can hear Myles and I discuss this one the upcoming Awards Radar Podcast episode, but today, I want to set the stage a bit.

Too often, when AMPAS has made changes of late, they’ve almost always made the show, and the Oscars on the whole, worse. We don’t need to get into those missteps here, but the Academy has often shot itself in the foot. They’ve ignored their base or core audience in the hopes of seeking out and wooing an elusive audience member who may not actually be attainable. Here, it sure seems like their listening to cinephiles, as well as the artisans themselves who have been toiling away in comparative anonymity for all too long.

Now, on to the new categories. First up, a bit of clarification is likely necessary. In case you’re not aware, Best Achievement in Casting will go to the Casting Director, so it’s not a Best Ensemble prize. That distinction is important, since I think Ensemble is one of the Oscar categories that would be a bad idea. That would likely just pad the stats of Best Picture nominees, as opposed to doing anything notable. Casting spreads the wealth, since it can go to a wide variety of films.

Casting intrigues me since it could just as easily have gone to Anora last season as it could have to Dune: Part Two. Films both big and small with a wide variety of cast members can contend, which is a lot of fun. Essentially, almost any movie can be up for this prize. The Academy Awards are starting to nominate less films, even if their tastes are widening, so having all sorts of flicks in contention here, starting with this upcoming season, is a win.

Best Stunt Design, on the other hand, will favor blockbusters, of course, while honoring the Stunt Coordinators who have been campaigning for this recognition for years. As such, a Mission: Impossible win here wouldn’t give Tom Cruise an Oscar, so keep that in mind. However, the stunt work within flicks like that will still be honored, which is surely a win.

Stunts last season could certainly have gone to The Fall Guy, if not one of the Best Visual Effects nominees, but this category will have a nice little side effect with awards season. Now, with another potential nomination or even win on the table, mainstream blockbusters that might otherwise sit out Oscar season will now have to at least consider campaigning. Given the right film, it could also lead to some of these populist works getting additional nominations. If nothing else, more movies that more people have seen will be featured during Oscar night.

Now, it will take a few years for us to actually understand what the Academy is looking for with this categories. By the time we get to the 100th Academy Awards and the Stunts category is introduced, we’ll have a few Casting winners under their belt, which will help. For now, Oscar has done a good thing, with a lot to potentially look forward to. So, kudos to the Academy for listening and for doing the right thing. Onward and upward!

Thoughts on the new Oscar categories? Let us know!