Golden Globes Awards 2021: HFPA Alters Rules In Light Of COVID-19 Pandemic

HFPA waives certain requirements for awards-qualifying screenings and release formats

The Golden Globes will change their qualifying rules for next year’s awards ceremony in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the 90-member organization that administers the Golden Globes, announced the changes on Thursday, March 26. These changes will primarily focus on official screenings for HFPA members, as well as qualifying release formats.

Rule Changes

To qualify for award consideration, the HFPA normally requires that film distributors offer private screenings for their members within a week of the film’s scheduled release in the Los Angeles area. The film must also be avaialbe for at least a seven-day-long period, in either theatrical release or pay-per-view, starting on or before December 31. However, in light of the mass theatre closures and social distancing measures put in place as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak, those rules are temporarily waived.

Film distributors will be able to reschedule their HFPA member screenings to a later date, so long as members are still provided an advanced screener within the original release date timeframe. Also, films will still qualify if they opt to premiere on subscription cable or Internet services as opposed to theatrical/pay-per-view platforms.

This will primarily apply to films “that had a bona fide theatrical release planned to begin in Los Angeles during the period from March 15 to April 30, 2020”. But the HFPA did clarify that this period is subject to later extension, and these suspensions will be reviewed on a more case-by-case basis later in the year.

“The HFPA will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on motion picture and television distribution and exhibition and may extend these suspensions of the Golden Globe award rules and/or may make other temporary variations to those rules as it considers appropriate in the future,” the organization’s statement concluded.

After Effects on Award Season

This has led to speculation as to whether similar awards season shows will alter their qualifications, as well. Some have been pressuring the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to loosen their screening requirements or to widen the qualified-screening window.

This rules shake-up has particularly thrown specialty and art-house distributors for a loop, as they try to weigh financial losses against potential awards flair. Some, like the Sundance- and Berlin-award-winning Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ distributor Focus Features, are considering turning to VOD. Others, like Sony Pictures Classics, who’ve chosen to simply push their releases back to later in the year, are more resilient.

“You can’t have a movie that has not been theatrical be eligible for Oscars,” says Tom Bernard, the co-president of SPC. “Once theaters open, we should go back to the rules.”

As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the world, only time will tell how other organizations must evolve to cope with it.

Keep abreast on our reporting of the outbreak as it pertains to the entertainment industry here. You can also watch IndieWire’s listing for more frequent updates.

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