Fires in Los Angeles: Oscar season in Hollywood turns into a donation campaign

When the Palisades fire broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, Hollywood awards season was in full swing. THE Golden Globes had occurred less than 48 hours earlier and a series of spectacular awards banquets followed in the days that followed.

But the enormity of the destruction in Southern California quickly wiped out any festive mood of the film industry’s peak season of celebrations. At one point, flames even encroached into the hillside above the Dolby Theater, home of the Oscars.

The fires struck at the very heart of a film industry still trying to stabilize after years of pandemic, labor unrest and technological upheaval. This isn’t the first time this decade that the Oscars have asked the question: should the series continue? And if so, what do they mean now?

“With ALL due respect during Hollywood’s celebratory season, I hope that one of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the proceeds they raised to the victims “Hacks” star Jean said. Smart, recent Globe winner, wrote on Instagram.

The Oscars are going ahead as planned, but it is certain that they will be transformed due to the wildfires and that much of the red carpet pomp that usually takes place between now and then will be reduced, if not canceled altogether. With so many people made homeless by the fires, there is little appetite for the season’s usual self-congratulatory parades.

Instead, attention turned to what the Oscars might symbolize for a traumatized Los Angeles. The Oscars have never meant less, but, at the same time, they could be more important than ever as a beacon of perseverance for the collapsing cinematic capital.

The film academy on Monday for the second time delayed the announcement of his nominations. Nominations will now be announced virtually on February 23. The academy also canceled its annual nominees luncheon and said he plans to honor frontline workers and support relief efforts.

“We will overcome this ordeal together and bring a sense of healing to our global film community,” pledged Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.

The fires, one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history, continue. The ongoing nature of the crisis, which has left at least 25 people dead, has made recasting well-laid plans a moving target. The Critics Choice Awards have been postponed. The Producers Guild Awards nominations have been delayed twice and no new dates have been set. On Tuesday, the guild created a fund to support producers affected by the fires.

THE 67th Grammy Awardsscheduled to be held Feb. 2 in downtown Los Angeles, are moving forward, albeit with significant changes. Harvey Mason Jr., Recording Academy chief executive officer and board chair Tammy Hurt said this year’s Grammys “will carry a renewed meaning: raising additional funds to support California’s wildfire relief efforts.” forest and honor the courage and dedication of first responders who risk their lives. to protect ours. »

A telethon-type element also appears to accompany the Oscars. In recent days, many people within the industry have offered suggestions on how broadcasting could be reconsidered. A somewhat similar process occurred during the Oscars 2021, who were postponed to end of April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Academy Awards have been moved several times throughout history, most notably in 1938, when the ceremony was delayed for a week due to historic flooding in Los Angeles.

For the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the wildfires have been extremely personal. According to The Hollywood Reporter, four of the academy’s 55 board members lost their homes, including producer Lynette Howell Taylor, visual effects governor Brooke Breton, sound governor Mark P. Stoeckinger and governor of the animation branch Jinko Gotoh. The Pacific Palisades, largely destroyed by fires, was home to many stars and executives.

For potential candidates, this is normally the time when they are most active, campaigning at Q&As and other events related to the all-important nomination voting period. All this stopped. Isabella Rossellini, who is the favorite to be nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in “Conclave,” on Instagram published a photo of an Oscar in ashes. The photo turned out to be fake, but it accurately reflects the current mood in Hollywood.

“We have a lot of friends and colleagues who have either evacuated or actually lost their homes,” Conclave director Edward Berger said after Wednesday’s ceremony. BAFTA nominations. “So it’s a very strange time to feel good about receiving awards and celebrating them. And what really motivates me is talking to these friends and seeing how resilient they are.

Several high-profile television series were forced to halt production because of the fires, but few film productions were affected. This, in itself, is a reflection of a Hollywood that has seen the majority of film production seek tax incentives in other states.

Work across the entire film and television industry did not rebound after the strikes of 2023leaving a large number of crew members unemployed. Studios are so quiet that actress Natalie Morales (“Grey’s Anatomy”) pleaded for studios, following the fires, to turn empty sound stages into temporary classrooms, erected by unemployed craftspeople, for children whose schools burned down. .

It’s a reminder that many in the film industry need all the work they can get, including all the jobs that come with the Oscars. Not only are the Oscars a vital spotlight on a wide range of films that would otherwise struggle to find audiences, but they also provide ample employment for an industrial complex of factory workers, stylists, and salespeople for awards season.

With so many out of work before the fires, Emmy-winning makeup artist Silvina Knight calls this latest crisis “another setback — a big setback.” She is currently working on “Suits LA”, one of the series whose filming was stopped due to the fires.

“I’m not sure how people are going to feel about getting dressed up and losing everything,” the Oscar Knight said. “But I don’t know, maybe it will be a show of force when we return. Yes, it’s tragic, but we all come together. Even on the way home the other night, the drivers were very considerate of each other, which is unusual in Los Angeles.

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AP’s Hilary Fox in London contributed to this report.