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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, April 23, 2021 4 By Kyla Brewer TV Media A little over a year ago, all sorts of film sets were shut down due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, from small indie productions to massive blockbusters. Howev- er, the industry rallied and got back on track, and now it's time to celebrate. Stars come together (safe- ly!) to celebrate recent achievements in film during the 93rd annual Academy Awards, airing Sunday, April 25, on ABC. Considered by many to be Hollywood's high- est honor, the Oscars, as they are more commonly known, are bestowed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci- ences in 23 categories that rec- ognize outstanding work in ev- erything from acting and di- recting to costume design and cinematography. Among the most highly an- ticipated awards shows of the season, the Oscars have a rep- utation for red carpet fashion, high-profile celebrity appear- ances and show-stopping per- formances. However, while this year's ceremony is all but sure to please, it will have to adapt to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all in atten- dance. Unlike most other awards shows during the COV- ID-19 era, this year's Academy Awards ceremony will be an in-person event. Awards galas such as the Golden Globes and the Emmys opted for virtual events or hybrid events featur- ing some remote presenta- tions, but producers of the Os- cars have decided that the show will go on in person. How exactly the evening will unfold isn't perfectly clear, though it is known that the ceremony will take place in multiple locations, including its traditional home at the Dolby Theatre as well as at Union Station Los Angeles and Holly- wood & Highland. It has even been reported that there may be overseas venues in London and Paris to reduce the risk of travel for nominees currently outside the United States. Luckily, producers have as- sembled a seasoned team of professionals to tackle the challenge, led by director Glenn Weiss, who's won two Emmys for his work on previ- ous Oscar telecasts. "Our plan is that this year's Oscars will look like a movie, not a television show, and Glenn has embraced this ap- proach and come up with ideas of his own on how to achieve this," producers Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soder- bergh said in an official news release. "We're thrilled to have him as part of the brain trust." In other changes, the Acade- my made some adjustments to its rules this year to allow films that were impacted by the CO- VID-19 pandemic to have a better shot at nominations. This year, films did not have to have a theatrical release to be in contention. The Academy ex- panded the field to those mov- ies that were available through subscription and video-on-de- mand services, arguably a nec- essary step given the hit to movie theater businesses dur- ing COVID-19 lockdowns. Also, because the ceremony was postponed from February to April this year, the eligibility window for films was expand- ed so that more films would qualify. Producers are keeping with at least one trend as this year's ceremony will have no host. The Oscars haven't had an offi- cial host since Jimmy Kimmel ("Jimmy Kimmel Live!") took the helm in 2018. Presenters and performers for this year's gala had not been announced as of press time, but nominees were announced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas ("Baywatch," 2017) and Nick Jonas ("The Voice") through a global livestream on March 15. The black-and-white film "Mank" (2020) led the list of nominees by a mile with an im- pressive 10 Oscar nods, includ- ing Gary Oldman for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Amanda Seyfried for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Six films clocked in with six nomina- tions each: "The Father" (2020), "Minari" (2020), "Ju- das and the Black Messiah" (2021), "Nomadland" (2020), "Sound of Metal" (2019) and "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (2020). All of those films, in- cluding "Mank," are up for the coveted Best Picture Oscar along with "Promising Young Woman" (2020). The latter film garnered five nominations, as did "Ma Rainey's Black Bot- tom" (2020). Fans may notice more diver- sity among this year's nomi- nees as well, which may be at- tributed to the Academy's ef- forts to encourage equitable representation in the movie in- dustry and reflect the diversity of audiences through its Acad- emy Aperture 2025 initiative. "Judas and the Black Messi- ah" is the first Best Picture nominee to have an all-Black production team. Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell also made history as their Best Director nominations mark the first time two women have been nominated in that category in the same year. Other notable firsts include Steven Yeun becoming the first Asian American to be nomi- nated for Best Actor for his work in "Minari" and Riz Ahmed as the first Muslim ac- tor nominated for Best Actor for his part in "Sound of Met- al." The late Chadwick Bose- man received a nomination for his role in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," making him the first African American to receive a posthumous Best Actor nomi- nation. This is also the first time since 1973 that two Black women have been nominated in the Best Actress category in the same year: Viola Davis for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and Andra Day for "The United States vs. Billie Holiday." coverstory A statue of an Academy Award The show must go on: Academy Awards adapt to pandemic protocols By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: I just saw the movie "War Dogs" and loved it. Was it based on a book or something? A: There is a book, but it was based on the same source material as the movie; they both were born from an article in Rolling Stone magazine. It's the true story of a pair of 20-somethings who, fueled largely by marijuana and self-confidence, managed to land a $300-million U.S. government contract to supply arms to American allies in Afghanistan. The story was first told in Rolling Stone by Guy Lawson in a piece published in 2011. It's the sort of stranger-than-fic- tion tale that Hollywood generally can't resist — and so, it didn't. While the producers and screenwriters worked on an ad- aptation, Lawson turned his article into a book. "Arms and the Dudes: How Three Stoners from Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History" was published in June 2015, thereby beating the movie version, "War Dogs," which was released in 2016. You may note that the book's title mentions "three ston- ers," while the film only follows two. This is one of the larger deviations the movie took from the true story, editing out one central person's contribution, but it's far from the only one. That's one good reason why the article and/or the book are still worth checking out even if you've seen the movie. Q: What was HBO's first original series? A: When people strain their memories back to the early days of HBO original programming, they tend to think of the shows that share DNA with the ones on now — the shows that led to a revolution in TV and to HBO's general ownership of the Emmys for the past 20 years. Viewers might think of the racy comedy "Dream On" or the cerebral insider series "The Larry Sanders Show," but both of those came nearly a decade after "Fraggle Rock." That's right: Jim Henson's modest, beloved children's se- ries about cave-dwelling monsters with kind hearts was the first original series that HBO (co-)produced. "Fraggle Rock" was a joint production by HBO and the Ca- nadian Broadcasting Corporation that debuted in 1983, 11 years after HBO first went live. Former HBO communications boss Quentin Schaffer, who was a lowly member of the press team when "Fraggle Rock" was on the air, remarked that the show was an early success and critical to the network's development at the time. That said, it only narrowly beat a couple of other, more on- brand originals to earn the "first" designation. Later in 1983, HBO launched the satirical "Not Necessarily the News," a show in the tradition of HBO's current hit "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver," and then "Philip Marlowe, Private Eye," a gritty detective show that blazed a trail for newer gritty de- tective shows like "True Detective." Meanwhile, despite the early success of "Fraggle Rock," HBO didn't subsequently pursue children's programming su- premacy. It was, nonetheless, proof that a pay channel like HBO could make its own shows (and make them hits). Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. hollywoodQ&A

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