Oscars' playing field just got a lot livelier

Judging by those possible picks, a 10-nominee list would have included considerably more studio films, along with (at most) one or two specialty division films. With indies and specialty divisions making fewer movies each year, it seems likely that a Big 10 nominee list will feature even more popular studio films. But that's the whole idea. The entire thrust of expanding the playing field is to find a way to better engage a younger audience, which would help drive Oscar ratings up instead of letting them slide farther down. It could even encourage the nomination of a smart comedy, a deserving genre that the academy has willfully ignored in recent years.

Interestingly, the driving force behind this decision wasn't the academy board (which eventually approved it), but the academy's Awards Committee, which is made up of a dozen or so industry veterans, tellingly with a sizable contingent of marketing and publicity figures, including Marvin Levy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs and Ganis, once a publicist himself. (Other Awards Committee members include producer Hawk Koch, writer-director Phil Alden Robinson and veteran cinematographer Owen Roizman.) It was this committee that pushed forward the change, believing the academy had to take dramatic action to save its bacon with ABC, which like all networks has less patience than ever with shows whose ratings are in steady decline.

Beneficial effects

I instantly see several good things coming out of the decision. With votes being spread across 10 nominees, on the night of the show there should be more suspense about which film will be the winner (unlike this year, when "Slumdog Millionaire's" victory was a foregone conclusion). With 10 nominees to showcase on the telecast, the academy will ultimately have to make a long-overdue move and jettison some of the technical categories that are largely an excuse for millions of Americans to take a bathroom break -- or hit the fast-forward on their TiVos. The fewer awards, the better. The Grammys usually give out only nine or 10 awards on-camera, and put on a more entertaining show.

Anyone who's read my thoughts on the subject knows that I believe the media's obsession with the Oscars is out of control, trivializing what was once an award for real artistry.