New Short Film Submission Deadlines Announced For Oscars 2019

The Academy’s Board of Governors has approved Oscars rules and campaign regulations for the 91st Academy Awards.

Submission deadlines for awards eligibility have been changed.  There is now one submission deadline – Monday, October 1, 2018 – for the Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories.  The submission deadline for Best Picture and all other categories is Thursday, November 15, by 5 p.m. PT.

In the Documentary Feature category, films that have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival will be eligible for Academy Awards consideration regardless of any prior public exhibition or distribution by nontheatrical means.  The Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival List will be available later this spring.  Furthermore, the critic review eligibility requirement has been expanded to include additional New York- and Los Angeles-based publications.

Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees.  The Awards and Events Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Board of Governors for approval.

Updated campaign regulations, which specify how companies and individuals may promote to Academy members any movies and achievements eligible for the 91st Academy Awards, are also presented to the Board of Governors for approval.

For the first time, studios, distributors and filmmakers will be required to use an Academy-approved mailing house to send sanctioned awards materials for eligible films to Academy members.  Each approved mailing house will be provided with an official list of Academy members who have opted-in along with their contact information to facilitate both physical and digital mailings.

Additionally, the number of post-nominations screenings with a filmmaker Q&A is now limited to a maximum of four regardless of category or country in which the event takes place.  This rule eliminates the two additional screenings currently allowed for Documentary and Foreign Language Film nominees.

For the complete 91st Academy Awards rules, visit oscars.org/rules

The 91st Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.  The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.