Traditionally, it is the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences that decides which films are nominated and awarded at the Oscars. However, this year the annual event is changing things up a bit with a fan-voted category that allows Twitter users to vote for their favourite film of 2021 — regardless of whether it’s an Oscar contender.
All movie lovers need to do is post their film of choice on Twitter with the hashtag #OscarsFanFavorite and their vote will be cast.
Spider-Man: No Way Home definitely is my #OscarsFanFavorite
I mean, we have 3 Spiders, Benedict Cucumber, Zendaya and freaking Willem Dafoe in the same movie, it IS the movie of the year. pic.twitter.com/Dzpey9oBLL
— 18/53 (@edgarmarquesm) February 14, 2022
While not an official Oscars category, the film that receives the most fan votes via the social media platform will be announced during the broadcast of the 94th Academy Awards on March 27.
Not only that but three Twitter users who cast their votes during the February 14 to March 3 period will be selected — along with their guests — to have an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to present an Oscar award at the following ceremony in 2023, although the fine print will likely stipulate that said winners need to already be residing in the US.
The move seems to be a (perhaps misguided, time will tell) attempt to engage a younger audience as the annual award show grapples with the steadily falling viewership that has plagued the event in recent years. By incorporating an easily accessible element of audience participation, the Academy is no doubt hoping to see an uptick in both viewership and organic positive promotion.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, who first published the news, Meryl Johnson, VP of digital marketing at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Twitter to help build an engaged and excited digital audience leading up to this year’s ceremony.
“Through these activations, social media users around the world now have more opportunities to engage with the show in real time, find a community and be a part of the experience in ways they’ve never been able to before.”
Added Sarah Rosen, Twitter’s head of U.S. entertainment and news partnerships, “The idea that a movie fan might see their tweet during the Oscars broadcast is pretty epic, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the Academy to bring this to life.”
Twitter users will also be able to weigh in on their favourite scene from a 2021 movie by using the hashtag #OscarsCheerMoment, with the winning scenes then shown at the Oscars ceremony along with the fan’s Tweets. For both the fan-favourite film and cheer moment campaigns, Twitter users will be able to tweet out their submissions up to 20 times a day, which the AV Club has humorously pointed out will likely lead to all sorts of silliness and the submission of films that were not released in the 2021 period.
On an unrelated note, if you need me I will be spending the rest of the day voting for Gremlins 2 to take out this prestigious, yet not remotely official award.
If you are keen to catch all of the action of entertainment’s most anticipated night the 94th Academy Awards will air exclusively on Channel 7 and 7plus, LIVE AEDT on Monday, March 28 which works out to be around noon. This means you can see all of the glitz and glamour at exactly the same time as the US.
You can also check out all our Oscars coverage here.
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