This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/movies/oscars-2021-streaming-coronavirus.html
The article has changed 18 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Oscars Rule to Allow Films to Skip a Theatrical Release This Year | Oscars Rule to Allow Films to Skip a Theatrical Release This Year |
| (14 days later) | |
| The Oscars are making history again, but there’s a catch. | The Oscars are making history again, but there’s a catch. |
| As movie theaters across the globe remain closed because of the coronavirus, the motion picture academy met Tuesday to approve several new rules and changes for the next Oscars telecast. Here’s the big one: For the first time, a streaming film may skip a theatrical release entirely and still remain eligible for the Academy Awards. | As movie theaters across the globe remain closed because of the coronavirus, the motion picture academy met Tuesday to approve several new rules and changes for the next Oscars telecast. Here’s the big one: For the first time, a streaming film may skip a theatrical release entirely and still remain eligible for the Academy Awards. |
| “The academy firmly believes there is no greater way to experience the magic of movies than to see them in a theater,” the academy president, David Rubin, and chief executive, Dawn Hudson, said in a joint statement. “Our commitment to that is unchanged and unwavering. Nonetheless, the historically tragic Covid-19 pandemic necessitates this temporary exception to our awards eligibility rules.” | “The academy firmly believes there is no greater way to experience the magic of movies than to see them in a theater,” the academy president, David Rubin, and chief executive, Dawn Hudson, said in a joint statement. “Our commitment to that is unchanged and unwavering. Nonetheless, the historically tragic Covid-19 pandemic necessitates this temporary exception to our awards eligibility rules.” |
| The rule change is not expected to last beyond the 93rd Academy Awards, which are still scheduled for Feb. 28, 2021. It also comes with a strict stipulation: Only films that had a previously planned theatrical release are still eligible for Oscar consideration. That rule will bar traditional TV movies from entering the Oscar fray, but it may also complicate award-season bids for independent films that were banking on a buzzy fall-festival debut to net a distributor and release date. The academy also noted that the rule would remain in effect at least as long as theaters were closed under federal, state and local guidelines. | The rule change is not expected to last beyond the 93rd Academy Awards, which are still scheduled for Feb. 28, 2021. It also comes with a strict stipulation: Only films that had a previously planned theatrical release are still eligible for Oscar consideration. That rule will bar traditional TV movies from entering the Oscar fray, but it may also complicate award-season bids for independent films that were banking on a buzzy fall-festival debut to net a distributor and release date. The academy also noted that the rule would remain in effect at least as long as theaters were closed under federal, state and local guidelines. |
| Still, it’s a significant concession from the academy, which had previously mandated that an Oscar contender be shown in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County for a qualifying run of at least a week. Major streamers like Netflix had reluctantly acceded to those rules in recent years, despite a business model with no vested interest in propping up the theatrical experience. Now, they’re free of that obligation for at least a little while. | Still, it’s a significant concession from the academy, which had previously mandated that an Oscar contender be shown in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County for a qualifying run of at least a week. Major streamers like Netflix had reluctantly acceded to those rules in recent years, despite a business model with no vested interest in propping up the theatrical experience. Now, they’re free of that obligation for at least a little while. |
| The rule change may make old-school Oscar voters wary as those streaming services continue to gain ground during the pandemic, but it was widely seen as a necessary move to preserve this year’s prestige film season. Though many small- to mid-budget movies have pivoted to a digital debut in recent months, potential Oscar contenders like the Carey Mulligan dramedy “Promising Young Woman,” originally set for an April 17 release, have vanished from the calendar, waiting until the academy sorted out its eligibility requirements. | The rule change may make old-school Oscar voters wary as those streaming services continue to gain ground during the pandemic, but it was widely seen as a necessary move to preserve this year’s prestige film season. Though many small- to mid-budget movies have pivoted to a digital debut in recent months, potential Oscar contenders like the Carey Mulligan dramedy “Promising Young Woman,” originally set for an April 17 release, have vanished from the calendar, waiting until the academy sorted out its eligibility requirements. |
| And while the Oscars may find themselves with fewer populist blockbusters to choose from if big-budget studio films continue to sit out 2020, Tuesday’s rule change should at least encourage enough digital releases to make this year’s awards contest an interesting race. | And while the Oscars may find themselves with fewer populist blockbusters to choose from if big-budget studio films continue to sit out 2020, Tuesday’s rule change should at least encourage enough digital releases to make this year’s awards contest an interesting race. |
| The academy also announced that the sound editing and sound mixing Oscars would be combined into one Oscar for best achievement in sound, a welcome development for voters who couldn’t tell the difference between the two categories. The move is also a win for ABC, which has sought to streamline the Oscar telecast. But it will make record-setting nomination hauls that much harder to attain, since the number of categories has been reduced from 24 to 23. | The academy also announced that the sound editing and sound mixing Oscars would be combined into one Oscar for best achievement in sound, a welcome development for voters who couldn’t tell the difference between the two categories. The move is also a win for ABC, which has sought to streamline the Oscar telecast. But it will make record-setting nomination hauls that much harder to attain, since the number of categories has been reduced from 24 to 23. |
| Updated July 7, 2020 | |
| The coronavirus can stay aloft for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, mounting scientific evidence suggests. This risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain super-spreading events reported in meatpacking plants, churches and restaurants. It’s unclear how often the virus is spread via these tiny droplets, or aerosols, compared with larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech. Aerosols are released even when a person without symptoms exhales, talks or sings, according to Dr. Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have outlined the evidence in an open letter to the World Health Organization. | |
| Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. | |
| Scientists around the country have tried to identify everyday materials that do a good job of filtering microscopic particles. In recent tests, HEPA furnace filters scored high, as did vacuum cleaner bags, fabric similar to flannel pajamas and those of 600-count pillowcases. Other materials tested included layered coffee filters and scarves and bandannas. These scored lower, but still captured a small percentage of particles. | |
| A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico. | |
| The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth. | |
| The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave. | |
| So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement. | |
| Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks. | |
| A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study. | |
| If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) | |
| If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. | |
| Additional changes will affect the best-score category, where a contending film must be made up of a minimum of 60 percent original music, a number that is raised to 80 percent for sequels and franchise films. Meanwhile, in the international feature-film category, all eligible academy members may now take part in the first round of voting; the initial selection was previously made by a special committee. | Additional changes will affect the best-score category, where a contending film must be made up of a minimum of 60 percent original music, a number that is raised to 80 percent for sequels and franchise films. Meanwhile, in the international feature-film category, all eligible academy members may now take part in the first round of voting; the initial selection was previously made by a special committee. |
| Finally, the academy will bar the distribution of DVD screeners, CDs, screenplays and hard-copy mailings after this season in a bid to become more environmentally friendly. Like many of this year’s films, those supplemental materials will migrate to a digital-only release. | Finally, the academy will bar the distribution of DVD screeners, CDs, screenplays and hard-copy mailings after this season in a bid to become more environmentally friendly. Like many of this year’s films, those supplemental materials will migrate to a digital-only release. |