Category Fraud

Book excerpt: Studios have been gaming the Oscar nominationsfor years - it's time the Academy took action! "Category fraud," Guy Lodge wrote in Variety, is"the practice of campaigning a leading performance in a supportingcategory (or, more rarely, vice versa) to increase an actor's chances ofa nomination or win - and, in some cases, to avoid competition." There have been instances of category fraud ever since the Academy introduced the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories in 1936to honour the work of character actors and featured players without themhaving to compete at the Oscars with famous movie stars. In recent years, however, as awards season campaigns have becomea ruthless and expensive business, category fraud has become more commonand egregious. With publicists taking any opportunity to secure nominationsfor their famous clients, many lesser-known performers are missing outon well-deserved recognition at the Oscars. Supporting performersare being pushed aside by famous stars in co-lead roles, backedby powerful studios and well-funded 'for your consideration' campaigns. When studios first began promoting established stars in co-lead roles for the supporting categories in the1950s, influential figures in the Screen Actors Guild protested and the Academy was forced to change its rules. Once the controversy subsided, however, the reform was repealed.Half a century later the practice is back: bigger and uglier than ever. Category Fraud charts the controversial history of this betrayal ofthe original reason for the introduction of the supporting categoriesand argues that it's once again time the Academy took action."