Oscars academy wants to shun simultaneous DVD releases

July 9, 2006

It looks as
though the concept of releasing a movie to DVD at the same time it hits the
theater, does not sit well with those behind the Oscar awards...whoever they
are. The Motion Picture Academy would like to create a new rule,
making such films ineligible for awards. Oh, the horror!

Recent surveys of Americans movie habits indicate,
that nearly half of all movie goers prefer to wait for the release to
DVD and simply skip the theater experience. So, it takes little thought to
realize, that you may as well put the films out on disc from the get-go. Unless
of course, you like to wait around for your return on investment. For this
awards academy to try and throw a wrench into the works of the cash
flow belonging to the entertainment industry, it seems a bit
ridiculous.

Many industry analysts predict that it's just a
matter of time before movies are released simultaneously to theaters, home
video and/or pay-per-view TV.

But perhaps not, if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has
anything to say about it.

AMPAS is considering a rules change that would make films released
simultaneously on the big and little screen ineligible for Oscar
consideration.

'We're the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences," academy
president Sid Ganis told Variety. 'If you want to premiere your
movie on TV, there's a very fine academy that handles
that."