In a horrible coincidence too extreme for even the least subtle Hollywood movie, the fires in Los Angeles expanded terrifyingly on the same day Oscar nominations voting began — providing a grim juxtaposition between Hollywood dreams and sickening reality.
The 2020s have been in many ways a terrible decade for Hollywood, starting with Covid shutdowns and continuing with strikes. Los Angeles has not yet recovered from either. The mantra for many in the industry last year was “survive ’til ’25.”
Then ’25 arrived with disasters that conjured phrases like “apocalyptic” and “Biblical”: Five separate fires around the city claimed five lives and forced 100,000 to flee their homes. At least 1,000 structures have been lost in the biggest blaze, the Palisades Fire.
Also Read: How to Help Los Angeles Firefighters and Evacuees
A fire that broke out in Runyon Canyon Wednesday night spurned evacuations in a section of Hollywood that includes the Dolby Theatre, the home of the Oscars since 2001. (The evacuation order was lifted this morning, according to KTLA.)
Oscar nominations voting — which had long been planned to open on Wednesday, January 8 — began as scheduled. It was not a matter of tone deafness: The date had been set for months, and no one could have anticipated the pain the day would bring. Oscar nominations voting is conducted with online ballots, wherever voters are, so there were no voting booths to shut down.
But awards season quickly became an afterthought, if anyone thought of it at all. It is sometimes dismissed, by cynics, as narcissistic self-celebration. But it is a major economic driver for Angelenos at every economic level: caterers, drivers, tailors, personal trainers, billboard installers. And it can be life-changing for small-time filmmakers who have spent decades doing odd jobs, struggling to break in.
It is an ego boost for celebrities, yes. But it’s more than that.
Oscar Nominations Voting in Flames
With the fires, the usual award season campaigning and prognostication went quiet. It was also no time for the usual, essential self-promotional hustle of projects at all levels, from the indie world to the elite.
On X, indie filmmaker Luke Barnett read the room succinctly: “Maybe not the best day to promote your thing.”
Hacks star Jean Smart, a recent Golden Globe winner, offered a novel idea: ““With ALL due respect, during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to victims of the fires and the firefighters,” she wrote on Instagram.
2023’s Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress, Jamie Lee Curtis, appeared on The Tonight Show in New York City, telling the audience, “As you know, where I live is on fire right now. Literally, the entire city of the Pacific Palisades is burning.”
She asked viewers to support the American Red Cross and help however they could, and announced this morning that she will donate $1 million to fire relief.
Actors who might normally have been giving charming interviews to improve their Oscar nomination odds instead sent messages of support.
“My heart goes out to everyone in Los Angeles and the surrounding communities, including all the animals and wildlife impacted by these catastrophic fires. Sending prayers and gratitude to the brave first responders and to all of you affected by this devastating moment,” wrote The Brutalist star Adrien Brody, another winner at Sunday’s Golden Globes.
Billy Crystal, a nine-time Oscar host, said he and his wife, Janice, had lost the Pacific Palisades home where they had lived since 1979.
“We raised our children and grandchildren here,” the couple said in a statement. “Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this.”
But the Oscar voting goes on. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences scrambled to adapt, along with millions of Angelenos. The voting, which was scheduled to close on January 12, will now end two days later, on January 14. The nominations announcement, previously scheduled for January 17, was moved to January 19.
The Critics Choice Awards, initially scheduled for Sunday, were postponed to January 26.
The ceremonies, when they happen, will be marked by resilience and grief. Again.
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