SAG to Assemble Ensemble Nominees Now
Wednesday, November 20, 2013 at 5:30PM 
Glenn here with news that Screen Actor's Guild voting forms have been shipped out in the post. As my tongue-twister of a title suggests, a select number (2,200 to be exact) of SAG members will be given the arduous task of deciding whether This is the End has an ensemble on the same playing field as 12 Years a Slave (I say yes!), if middling films with sprawling big-name casts like The Butler should be up there (I say no, but since when has that stopped them?) and which of the best actor favourites is going to pluck this year's unlucky short straw. There are so many contenders that somebody has to, right?
SAG are unique in that the people chosen to select the nominees changes each year amongst its hefty membership (now even bigger thanks to a merger with AFTRA, or is my lack of knowledge on the subject getting me into a mess?) That means whoever voted for that incredible roster of ensemble nominees in 2007 didn't necessarily vote for Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy, but we thank them for both nonetheless. It also means that sometimes curveballs are thrown that can signpost Oscar surprises waiting in the wings (Demian Bichir for A Better Life, anyone?) or can send prognosticators on a wild goose chase (Cloris Leachman in Spanglish?).
Last week Amir looked at SAG's ensemble category so there's no need to dip back into that well, but what are we thinking could surprise in the acting categories? Is there a Hilary Swank in Conviction waiting to win their lone citation of the season? Is there a Jacki Weaver who has two Oscar nominations to her credit and yet can't seem to get herself a solo SAG nomination? I'm personally wondering whether the older-skewing Best Actress category may make voters throw a bone to a popular young actor such as Brie Larson (Short Term 12) or if Matthew McConaughey can snag a double nomination with Dallas Buyer's Club in Best Actor and Mud in Best Supporting Actor. Lest we forget that Mud was the first screener sent to voters and that helps!
What are you hunches or sneaking suspicions?
Speak up in the comments or make your FYCs.
The SAG Award Nominations will be announced on Wednesday, December 11th by TV stars Clark Gregg and Sasha Alexander
Reader Comments (18)
Please forgive my terrible attempts at Photoshop.
No way The Butler doesn't get a nom here.
So when will the nomination announced?
Will -- I hope you're right, but it's totally the type of movie and cast they tend to recognize.
Are foreign movies/performances eligible?
From the SAG website: I took out the part about television and yes, foreign films are eligible with certain restrictions which are not unreasonable.
Motion pictures must be feature-length (over 60 minutes in running time), and
must be first publicly exhibited (previews excluded) by means of 35mm or 70mm
film or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan Digital Cinema format (minimum
native resolution 2048 by 1080 pixels, with pixel bit depth, color primaries,
and image and sound file formats suitable for exhibition in commercial Digital
Cinema sites) before a paying audience in a commercial motion picture house
in Los Angeles County for at least a seven-day consecutive run commencing in
calendar year 2013, following normal exploitation and advertising consistent with
the treatment of the producer’s other pictures. If the motion picture has been
theatrically exhibited elsewhere prior to its qualifying theatrical exhibition in Los
Angeles County, it shall be eligible if the prior exhibition occurred after January 1,
2012. If the motion picture has been previewed on cable television after January
1, 2012 and prior to its qualifying theatrical exhibition in Los Angeles County, it
will be considered eligible in the year of its qualifying theatrical release provided
it has not been submitted in a previous year as a television film. Short films (60
minutes or less in running time) and documentaries are not eligible.
Motion pictures, television, cable or
new media productions made outside the United States in which a SAG-AFTRA
member is employed are eligible provided SAG-AFTRA determines that the
member’s employment is covered by a SAG or AFTRA contract in accordance
with Global Rule 1 or by a contract that accords the member the material terms
and conditions of the applicable SAG or AFTRA collective bargaining agreement.
SAG-AFTRA’s determination as to eligibility shall be final and non-reviewable.
Films need not be in English.
Thanks, Henry!
Peggy Sue, plenty of foreign nominees amongst SAG's lists. :)
Have they seen The Wolf of Wall Street or American Hustle yet? Or is this going to be another Django Unchained scenario where the first few awards bodies out of the gate didn't have time to see it so it only got nominated by the later ones?
I'm going to hazard a guess that Short Term 12 gets completely overlooked here.
Strong Contenders for Cast of a Motion Picture: 12 Years a Slave, August: Osage County, Blue Jasmine, Prisoners, Nebraska, Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips and yes, Gravity.
Would Be Weird (But Not Unlikely) Since (Almost) Nobody Has Seen Them: American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street.
Longshot Wish List: Her, Out of the Furnace, Inside Llewyn Davis.
Off-the-Wall Hunches: Now You See Me, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (with Nicole Kidman).
I don't think we'll be seeing CAPTAIN PHILLIPS. Hanks and maybe Bakri, yes, but not ensemble. And I don't get the joke about GRAVITY. I mean.. no. Just, no.
That was not a joke. At least not intentionally.
Glenn -- Plenty? I demand retroactive nominations for Volver and A Separation.
peggysue - lol. but yes the SAGs aren't totally averse to foreign performers.
glenn -- that's not a terrible attempt but i'll show you a couple easy tricks next time we're at a computer ;)
everyone -- i have begun wondering if alfre woodard might pull off her lone nod here. she seems SAG-gy (and got that's a horrible thing to say. that acronym!)
I have an interesting feeling that Jennifer Garner will get into Supporting Actress at the SAG.
Also, I'm wondering is somehow Gravity makes it into Ensemble. Crazy, I know, but they've nominated 3-person casts before (Million Dollar baby) on its way to a Best Picture win.
I've always suspected many SAG members didn't realise they were only voting for three MILLION DOLLAR BABY cast-members and not, you know, the rest of the ensemble like Margot Martindale, Anthony Mackie, Jay Baruchel and so on one. If they nominate GRAVITY then they really have no business handing out an ensemble award. None. Zero. Go home.
Glenn, a) it's not an ensemble award (for the umpteenth time), it's a CAST award, and b) everybody knows it's also SAG's version of a Best Picture prize. Now I'm not saying that Gravity has a snowball's chance in hell of winning this, but I'm pretty sure it will be among the top ten films in contention for a nomination.
Its the entire cast, not just the single title names. At some point, you have to draw a line on who gets to walk to the platform. And although background do not get a specific mention, it is rare for a film with union leads and non union background to get a cast nom which is another reason certain films don't get many noms and don't even try for them. Its a Union award for Union members in Union sanctioned films and the majority of members who vote are background who know who was hiring pros and who settled for whatever they could get.
Gravity stands a good chance because both Clooney and Bullock are strong Union supporters.
Double nom for All Is Lost! For what French & Saunders call "the sheer acting" of Robert Redford!