ICG Local 600 Releases Statement On New Academy Awards Decision

Steven Poster, ASC, National President of the International Cinematographers Guild, (ICG, IATSE Local 600) has added his voice to the growing industry concern over the Academy's decision to shorten four awards from the live Oscar broadcast, including the cinematography award.

"This decision is extremely disheartening," he said. "As Matt Loeb, international president of the IATSE, said, 'these below-the-line crafts including cinematographers, editors and hair and makeup stylists, are the very core of movie-making.' I immediately reached out to Academy president John Bailey, a member of our own guild, who assured me that all of the nominees would be 'noted' during the broadcast. It's not the same. This is a collaborative process and THIS CHANGE appears to elevate certain crafts above others. People wait their ENTIRE lives to receive an Oscar in front of millions and it is humiliating to have that moment reduced to an afterthought."

The International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) represents more than 8500 members who work in film, television and commercials as directors of photography, camera operators, visual effects supervisors, still photographers, camera assistants, film loaders, all members of camera crews and publicists. The first cinematographers' union was established in New York in 1926, followed by unions in Los Angeles and Chicago, but it wasn't until 1996 that Local 600 was born as a national guild. ICG's ongoing activities include the Emerging Cinematographer Awards and the Publicists Awards Luncheon. The Guild also publishes the award-winning ICG Magazine.

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