EntertainmentSep 23, 2026

Should awards shows reserve equal airtime for craft categories and acting awards?

One FOR case in this debate

The Academy keeps embarrassing its own majority. Below-the-line craftspeople, editors, sound mixers, costume designers, make up the bulk of Academy membership, yet the telecast treats their awards as bathroom breaks. That is not just rude, it is bad business: international audiences tune in for their countries' craft nominees, the way India showed up in force when RRR's Naatu Naatu won, and those viewers do not care which category airs at 11 p.m. The 2022 pre-taped categories experiment drew open fury from the guilds whose dues fund the institution. A show that honors film should not rank filmmakers by fame. Give every category its live moment, and trim the montages and musical numbers nobody asked for.

4 comments

Discussion (4)

@monica.randolphFor1 month ago

The Academy's own members are mostly craftspeople, and the show treats them like catering staff. That is not just insulting, it is institutionally insane: you are boring the majority of your own voters. No wonder the ratings are dying; the people who care most are the ones being disrespected.

@ignacio.torresAgainst1 month ago

Most craft members understand the telecast is a TV product, not a union meeting. The guilds have their own awards shows where craft gets the full spotlight. Demanding the Oscars be something it is not, a four-hour trade ceremony, misunderstands what the broadcast is for.

@peyton.bentonTop DebaiterNeutral1 month ago

I am torn. The majority of members point is powerful, but so is the reality that my non-industry friends genuinely do not know what a gaffer does. Maybe the answer is better presentation: a great two-minute package on production design could win over viewers instead of boring them.

@gretchen.serranoFor1 month ago

The presentation point is the unlock. The craft categories are only boring because producers present them as boring: no context, no clips, just names. Show the audience what a sound designer actually does for 90 seconds and that category becomes must-see TV. The problem was never the categories.