ADVERTISEMENT
The Oscars just made a huge rule change to keep TV out of the awards
ESPN's multi-part documentary "O.J.: Made in America" will be the first and last of its kind to win an Oscar.
"O.J.: Made in America."
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
That means this year's Oscar winner for best documentary feature, ESPN's "O.J.: Made in America," will be the first and last multi-part doc to win the coveted award.
Part of ESPN's "30 for 30" series, the five-part documentary directed by Ezra Edelman is a groundbreaking work. The nearly eight-hour film (shown in theaters and broadcast as a series) looks at the rise and fall of NFL Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson while also delving into the social and racial unrest in Los Angeles. The two storylines converge when Simpson is found not guilty for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Before the Oscar win, "Made in America" won numerous critics awards, but talk also began to circulate within the industry at the time about whether it should be eligible alongside other feature nonfiction nominees.
ADVERTISEMENT
Edelman defended the movie's Oscar eligibility to Business Insider during a Facebook Live interview before Oscar nominations were announced.
"I find it amusing partly because the intention was very pure from the get-go," Edelman said. "I wanted to make a very long movie and so that it was funded and was commissioned by a television network, okay, so does anything that Netflix does, so does anything that Amazon does, it’s no different. The only thing that’s different about this is it’s long. So for me, that it aired on TV and it’s almost eight hours long, it’s hard if you’re a commercial television company to air something that is eight hours straight, so that’s why it aired the way it did. I think it’s a little bit of a mischaracterization or somewhat unfair because the movie’s the movie, the intent was very pure. By the away it was released in theaters before it was ever on TV. It was built as a theatrical experience."
To become eligible for the best-documentary category, movies need a weeklong run in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles and must be reviewed by the New York Times and LA Times. ESPN hit that bar for "Made in America."
However, the new rule will not allow producers of multi-part documentaries to book their projects in theaters for Oscar consideration.
FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
Congo is spending 22% of its scarce revenue on security - Minister
Another African country is set to get a Russian embassy
Medic West Africa 2024: A resounding success in fostering collaboration and innovation for a brighter healthcare future
10 African countries with the most troubling external debt in 2024
10 African countries with the least soft power influence over the world
Kenyan government rejects calls to ban TikTok, recommends tighter control over
Congo accuses Apple of conflict minerals in its supply chain
Top 10 African countries with the highest fuel prices in April 2024
