Weekend Awards Wrap-Up: From the Vatican to Vegas

by Cláudio Alves

Mikey Madison crashes into the Best Actress race thanks to BAFTA.

Last weekend marked the rapid ascendance of Anora as the Oscar Best Picture frontrunner. This past week's guilds honors haven't dispelled that notion, though BAFTAs might have, with Conclave taking the top prize from the British Academy. Will the race come down between a doomed Vegas wedding and a Vatican election, or will another contender rise with SAG next Sunday? From social media controversies to precursor disharmony, his season has been uncommonly chaotic and I, for one, am loving this sense of unpredictability. As much as we like to presume otherwise, this isn't a numbers game and stats exist to be broken. So let's break them…

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"Dune: Part Two" does well with the WGA and VES

by Cláudio Alves

DUNE: PART TWO | © Warner Bros.

Due to understandable circumstances, the awards season calendar has been thrown into disarray. Last week was supposed to be dominated by the Hollywood guilds announcing their nominees, but many chose to postpone such fanfare in the face of the LA wildfires. Still, there are two more guilds to account for now, as the VES and the WGA have issued press releases with their members' best-of-the-year picks. For those trying to predict the Oscars, the re-emergence of Dune: Part Two as a contender is a notable development, especially since Denis Villeneuve just received a Best Director BAFTA nomination. Then again, when discussing the Writers Guild, the sheer number of illegible contenders makes their precursor status a bit iffy…

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"Barbie" Gets Pushed to Adapted Screenplay

by Cláudio Alves

Shed a tear for Andrew Haigh's Oscar hopes.

What many believed was bound to happen finally did. Despite Warner Bros. campaigning Barbie's script as original, an Academy committee formed by members of the Writers branch - Howard A. Rodman and Dana Stevens took precedence as governors, while Eric Roth recused himself - and  chose to uphold the usual rules for IP-based material. That means Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach will have to compete in Best Adapted Screenplay, shaking up the race in a big way. The pink fantasy was the assumed frontrunner in the other category, facing off against The Holdovers as its biggest competition. Now, it's up against a veritable battalion of Best Picture contenders, including titles wrestling for the honor of nomination leader – Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, and Poor Things…

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What Does Oscar Campaigning Look Like During the Strikes?

By Ben Miller

The fall film festival season is upon us, but with a notable exception.  The usual lineup of Hollywood A-listers are (mostly) absent due to studio greed and the continuing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.  But so far, the date of the 96th Oscars haven't moved.  Unless the strikes are resolved more quickly than anyone believes they will be, the best films and performances will have to go toe-to-toe without the benefit of a robust campaign.

But what does an Oscar campaign look like if you aren't allowed to campaign?  

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Emmys Postpone Ceremony in Light of WGA and SAG Strikes

The show blog must go on.

In lieu of the WGA and SAG strikes, the Emmys have officially moved away from their September 18th date. This is the first time the Emmys have postponed their date since 2001, after the September 11th attacks. No new dates have been announced for both the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Creative Arts Emmys. It stands to reason that the show will not be rescheduled until the strike ends. As stated earlier on the site, The Film Experience stands with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA in their quest for fair wages. Hopefully, all production (including our beloved award shows) can return once the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) agrees to negotiate with the guilds in earnest.

In the meantime, all this means for us is that there’s just more time to celebrate the amazing work of television that is being honored this year.

In the coming months, you can expect more category analyses, volleys on the big four awards and coverage of many of the Creative Arts categories. You can find our Emmys coverage so far below: 

• “The Strange History of Iconic TV Characters That Never Won Emmys,” by Eric Blume

• “Emmy Spotlight: "The Other Two" and the tradition of the 'lone writing nomination’,” by Chris James

• “Emmy Nominations - Who's Up and Who's Down?,” by Chris James

• “Four shows entirely dominated the Emmy nominations. Worthy or excessive?” by Abe Friedtanzer

• “Team Experience Reacts to the 2023 Emmy Nominations”

• “"Succession" Leads 2023 Emmy Nominations”

Are there any shows or categories that you want us to delve into at The Film Experience? Let us know in the comments below.