Guillermo del Toro criticises Oscars for changes to live show

The Academy has since tried to ‘clarify’ plans for eight categories to be pre-taped for the ceremony on March 27

Guillermo del Toro has denounced the Academy Awards’ decision to pre-tape eight categories ahead of the live ceremony.

The Oscar winning director made his remarks while accepting the Filmmaking Achievement Award at the Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards in Los Angeles on 28 February.

“We don’t do [movies] alone, we do them together, and the people that made them with us, they were risking everything in a pandemic,” he said.

“This was not the year not to hear their names live at the Oscars. This is the year to say it — and say it loud.”

He added: “Many of you that have a voice and that can say it should say, ‘We should not do that.’”

“We shouldn’t do it this year. We shouldn’t do it ever, but this year we are together in this. The art is good. Every time we say something we invoke a whole reality with it, and we must say that this, 2021, was a f***ing great year for movies,” he concluded.

Less than 24 hours after Del Toro’s criticism, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and president David Rubin attempted to clarify the live show’s changes and their impact on the forthcoming Academy Awards, set for Sunday March 27 in Los Angeles.

In an interview with Deadline, Hudson said: “The board has discussed and agreed on the need to make changes to the broadcast, to allow for a celebratory show that also doesn’t ​run well over ​three hours.”

“The decision to show eight categories in our first hour in the Dolby Theatre was the creative solution arrived at by our producers, our officers, and our awards committee. We chose a mix of categories which would then be folded into our live broadcast,” she added.

The eight categories chosen to be pre-taped were decided by AMPAS executives, producers, and the awards committee.

The pre-taped categories along with their accompanying acceptance speeches will be edited into the live broadcast.

In 2019, the Academy attempted to make a similar change but retracted it after they were met with similar backlash.