Filmmaking > Buisness > Academy Awards, etc.

Are you one of the millions who ask themselves every time a television ad pops on the screen for another "Awards" show, "Does anyone even watch these things anymore??"

Admittedly, even those of us in the Entertainment world can't keep up with the plethora of self-aggrandizing ceremonies that dribble out of L.A. and New York.

Let's see, you've got the Academy Awards, a.k.a. the Oscars, Tony awards, SAG awards, Golden Globe awards, Emmy awards (Daytime and Primetime), Grammies, Country Music awards, Independent Spirit awards, the Image Awards, MTV movie awards, People's Choice awards, Teen Choice Awards, Kids Choice Awards, BAFTA Awards, European Film Awards, Internet Movie awards, Genie Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Music awards, the Razzies (my favorite) and well over 3 times as many that aren't even televised.

HollywoodReporter.com reported that the Academy Awards of 2008 "hit an all-time ratings low" and the Emmy's had its lowest viewer ship in 18 years. Most in the Entertainment Award circles blamed the writer's strike. Sorry, the public isn't buying it. The only part of the strike the public cared about was the fact that the final season of Scrubs was tragically cut short.

Many people stopped watching Award shows when obvious losers won over obvious winners, or a winner was chosen more out of political correctness than outstanding performance, or perhaps some of us were just tired of being preached to from the Hollywood pulpit by the usual cast of characters holding onto their golden "calves". (Ooooo, that stings. Oh, well.)

So if the ratings are plummeting, and the general public doesn't care anymore...

...then why the H. E. double hockey sticks do we still have award shows??

Why do the major and minor studios spend boo-coo bucks on promoting certain films to the various Academies just to win a nomination the public, in general, doesn't care about?

Don't get me wrong, I may come off a little harsh, but growing up in the business my dream was to win an Oscar, a Tony and a Grammy all in the same year! It wasn't until I grew up and became more involved in the reality and business of Hollywood and filmmaking that my feelings changed. Winning one of these awards is important to me, but for a completely different reason. And this reason, in my opinion, is the purpose for which award shows were created in the first place.

Some will say the reasons we still air these award shows are:# 4. Tradition. Sorry, this reason just doesn't hold up for me. For a reason to continue to do something that appears to be failing, "tradition" is weak.

When traditions begin to fade out because of cultural shifts, corruption of its intended purpose or the mere fact the public becomes more educated and realizes "Hey, this is stupid" or "Hey, this is dangerous," the tradition becomes more of a nuisance or just flat out illegal.

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