The Oscars could use every ounce of goodwill that it can manage. Instead, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is going through with its decision to cut eight categories from the live broadcast, including Original Score, Editing, and Makeup and Hairstyling. The acceptance speeches, which will be given before the televised ceremony, will be edited into the telecast, but “dozens of sound designers, engineers, and mixers have signed a petition protesting the Academy’s decision to award the sound Oscar during its pre-telecast hour,” according to Variety.
The protest will also include guild members wearing their badges upside down, and potentially for winners to flip their Oscars when they give their acceptance speech. “This weekend, the Oscars may be turned upside down as we may see winners from all categories accept their Oscars upside down in a silent show of solidarity with the eight affected categories,” Karol Urban, the president of the Cinema Audio Society, said in a statement. “We are all filmmakers of equal importance.”
A source told Deadline, “It’s not an organized thing. It’s word of mouth. People are talking about wearing their Academy lapel pins upside down, and holding their Oscar statues upside down if they win one. Some will definitely go there, and some won’t. It’s spreading. It’s getting some currency.”
The Oscars air this Sunday on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.
Source: https://uproxx.com/movies/oscars-upside-down-winners/