Mr. David Rubin
President
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences
8949 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90211

Dear Mr. Rubin,

Last month, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it will cut eight categories from its live Oscars television broadcast – documentary, live-action and animated shorts as well as key craft categories for production design, film editing, sound, makeup/hairstyling and original score.

The DGC is proud to represent filmmakers working on documentary, live-action and animated shorts including numerous Oscar-nominated projects from Canada’s National Film Board. These comprise many of Canada’s greatest international honours in film. Our Guild also represents sound editors, picture editors and production designers, all of whom stand to see their categories removed from the live Oscars telecast.

The DGC believes that all key craft disciplines are integral to the creation of feature film. Our Guild believes these indispensable contributions should receive the recognition that they deserve alongside other honours. In this business, truly, nobody does it alone.

As such, we support the American unions and associations representing a range of filmmakers and key craft disciplines that have taken issue with this decision, and we urge the American Academy’s executive committee to reconsider.

Respectfully yours,

Warren Sonoda
President
Directors Guild of Canada