The Academy Awards’ new and “long overdue” category, Best Casting, for Oscars will start counting films to be shown in 2025.
Have you ever thought about how a movie or a television show has been casted perfectly? When every celebrity reflects the personalities of their characters on their respective shows, it garners praises from their audience. This year, the Academy Awards will pay homage to just that as it introduced Best Casting as its new category for the upcoming Oscars.
A report by Forbes said this is the first new category the Academy created since 2001, which debuted the best animated feature film.
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A win for casting directors
Variety reported Academy chief executive Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang said casting directors are essential in filmmaking. They were proud to add Best Achievement in Casting to the categories the award governing body celebrates.
“We congratulate our Casting Directors Branch members on this exciting milestone and their commitment and diligence throughout this process,” they added.
Academy Casting Directors Branch governors Richard Hicks, Kim Taylor-Coleman, and Debra Zane released a joint statement regarding the new award. They expressed gratitude to the Board of Governors, Awards Committee, and the Academy leaders for their support.
“This award is a deserved acknowledgment of our casting directors’ exceptional talents and a testament to the dedicated efforts of our branch,” they said.
The Casting Society For America weighed in, saying they applaud the Academy. Additionally, they thanked the Casting Director Academy members for making the award possible through their hard work.
The Casting Directors Branch formed in 2013 with nearly 160 members according to Variety.
Clamor for Best Casting award
The Emmys, Spirits, and the British Academy Film Awards have given out casting awards according to Forbes. Meanwhile, BBC reported that casting directors are first hired as soon as a film project commences.
Casting director Carmen Cuba clamored for the category at the Oscars. In 2021, Cuba voiced out that casting directors should be eligible for recognition among 23 other categories. She arranged the cast for notable projects like Stranger Things, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and The Martian.
Casting Networks mentioned that the honor is a long overdue honor to be presented at the awards show. Co-chief executive of Talent Systems Alex Amin added that a film that wins an Oscar has a casting team who enlivens the characters. The right combination makes a magical movie.
“We are delighted that their invaluable contributions are finally being recognized on our industry’s largest stage,” he said.
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New awards in 2024
Emerging awards made it this year already apart from the Oscars. Golden Globe Awards announced two new categories in 2023, and so did the Grammys with its three new brackets.
The Golden Globes announced the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award and Best Performance by a Stand-Up Comic. The first ones who won the respective accolades are blockbuster film Barbie and comedian-actor Ricky Gervais.
Three new awards for the Grammys debuted this year. The Best African Music Performance went to Tyla’s “Water.” The Best Alternative Jazz Album became Meshell Ndegeocello’s “The Omnichord Real Book.” Meanwhile, Kylie Minogue triumphed at the Best Pop Dance Recording for “Padam Padam.” The Recording Academy’s semiannual Board of Trustees meeting last year voted and agreed on the addition of these three awards.
The eligibility rules for the inaugural award will be announced in April 2025 with the complete criteria for the 98th Academy Awards.
Banner photo from Samuel Ramos via Unsplash.
