Oscars in April? Here's the COVID-Altered Awards Season Calendar

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Oscars in April? Here’s the COVID-Altered Awards Season Calendar

by Steve Pond | October 3, 2020 @ 9:00 AM

With the Oscars taking place later than ever, this season’s events are spread out over seven months

The 2020-2021 film awards season will be the most delayed and drawn-out season ever, with the Oscars pushed back from its usual late-February date to April 25 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the other awards shows have adjusted to fit the Oscars timeline, but that timeline is itself unusually extended — there’s a full month, for instance, between the announcement of Oscar nominations on March 15 and the beginning of final voting on April 15. That’s the opposite of the awards season that ended at the beginning of this year, when the Oscars’ early Feb. 9 date caused a truncated, crammed calendar.

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Here is the current awards timeline, with awards shows and nominations announcements in boldface. Given the unpredictable course of the pandemic, these dates are subject to change. In addition, many awards bodies have yet to set their dates.

Also Read: 4 Ways the Oscars in April Could Shake Up This Years Awards Season

TheWrap will update this list as more organizations set their own timetables.

AFI Fest / Getty Images

OCTOBER
1: Gotham Awards deadline for submissions
15: AFI Fest begins
26: Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations announced
28: International Documentary Association’s IDA Documentary Awards shortlists announced

Gotham Awards / Getty Images

NOVEMBER
7: European Film Awards nominations announced
8: Critics Choice Documentary Awards final voting begins
9: Critics Choice Documentary Awards final voting ends
12: Gotham Awards nominations announced
16: Critics Choice Documentary Awards winners announced
19: Cinema Eye Honors first awards announcements
24: IDA Documentary Awards nomination announced
30: Golden Globes deadline for submissions

Also Read: Oscars Set New Inclusion and Diversity Standards for Best Picture Eligibility

European Film Awards / Getty Images

DECEMBER
1: Oscars submission deadline for animation, documentary, international and shorts
7: IDA Documentary Awards final voting begins
– Art Directors Guild Awards television submissions close
10: Cinema Eye Honors nominations
11: Writers Guild Awards deadline for submissions
12: European Film Awards
30: Golden Globes television nominations voting begins

Sundance Film Festival / Getty Images

JANUARY
4: Writers Guild Awards TV nomination voting begins
– ADG film submissions close
– Critics Choice Awards television nominating committees begin consideration
8: IDA Documentary Awards final voting ends
11: Gotham Awards
– SAG Awards nomination voting begins
12: Golden Globes television nominations voting ends
– EE British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) round-one voting begins
13: Golden Globes film nominations voting begins
15: Oscars submission deadline for general categories
– Critics Choice Awards television nominating committees make recommendations
18: Critics Choice television nominations announced
20: Writers Guild Awards TV nomination voting ends
22: Writers Guild deadline for film submissions
26: Golden Globes final screening date for movies
– BAFTA round one voting ends
27: Golden Globes final date for press conferences
29: Writers Guild film nomination voting begins
28: Sundance Film Festival begins
30: Golden Globes film nomination voting ends

Also Read: Golden Globe Awards Joins the Coronavirus Shuffle, Moves to Feb. 28

Golden Globes / Getty Images

FEBRUARY
1: Oscars preliminary voting begins in shortlisted categories
– SAG nomination voting ends
– ADG nomination voting begins
– Critics Choice nomination voting begins
– Cinema Eye Honors Audience Choice Prize voting begins
3: Golden Globes nominations announced
– Writers Guild TV, new media, news/radio and promotional nominations announced
4: SAG Awards nominations announced
– BAFTA longlists announced
5: Oscars preliminary voting ends
– Critics Choice nomination voting ends
8: Critics Choice film nominations announced
9: Oscars shortlists announced
10: Golden Globes final voting begins
– SAG Awards final voting begins
– Costume Designers Guild Awards nomination voting begins
11: Producers Guild documentary nominations announced
– Producers Guild sports, children’s, short-form nomination voting begins
– Cinema Audio Society nomination voting begins
12: Writers Guild film nomination voting ends
16: Writers Guild film nominations announced
19: Writers Guild final voting begins
– American Cinema Editors’ ACE Eddies nomination voting begins
– BAFTA nominations voting begins
23: Golden Globes final voting ends
24: CAS nomination voting ends
– ADG nomination voting ends
– CDG nomination voting ends
25: Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala
– PGA movies, TV series nomination voting begins
– PGA sports, children’s, short-form nomination voting ends
26: AFI Awards
– PGA sports, children’s, short-form nominations announced, final voting begins
28: Golden Globe Awards

SAG Awards / Getty Images

MARCH
1: ADG nomination voting ends
– BAFTA nomination voting ends
– Cinema Eye Honors final voting begins
2: CAS nominations announced
– ADG nominations announced
4: CDG nominations announced
– Critics Choice final voting begins
5: Oscars nomination voting begins
– Writers Guild final voting ends
– Critics Choice final voting ends
7: Critics Choice Awards
8: PGA sports, children’s, short-form final voting ends
– ACE Eddies nomination voting ends
9: BAFTA nominations announced
- Cinema Eye Honors ceremony
10: Oscars nomination voting ends
– SAG final voting ends
11: ACE Eddies nominations announced
– PGA film, TV nomination voting ends
– ADG final voting begins
12: PGA nominations announced, final voting begins
14: SAG Awards
15: Oscar nominations announced
17: CDG final voting begins
19: PGA final voting ends
– ACE Eddies final voting begins
21: Writers Guild Awards
24: Producers Guild Awards
25: BAFTA final voting begins
– CAS final voting begins
26: ACE Eddies final voting ends
29: CDG final voting ends
31: Santa Barbara International Film Festival begins

Also Read: BAFTA Overhauls Voting Rules to Increase Diversity of Film Awards

Academy Awards / Getty Images

APRIL
6: CAS final voting ends
7: BAFTA final voting ends
8: ADG final voting ends
10: Directors Guild Awards
– ADG Awards
11: EE British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA Awards)
13: Costume Designers Guild Awards
15: Oscar Nominees Luncheon
– Oscars final voting begins
17: Oscars Museum Gala
– CAS Awards
18: American Cinema Editors’ ACE Eddies Awards
20: Oscars final voting ends
24: Film Independent Spirit Awards
25: Academy Awards

Emmy Awards 2020: 10 Best and Worst Moments, From Essential Workers to Kimmel's Faux Crowd (Photos)

With the 2020 Emmy Awards in the can, here are some of the highs and lows of this year's virtual awards show.
Worst: Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue in front of (obviously) faux crowd.

We didn't need Kimmel to pull the bait-and-switch with his opening monologue at the end to know that the "crowd" wasn't actually there.
Best: 'Schitt's Creek' parties it up in Canada.

While most winners accepted their awards at home in front of family, the cast of the Pop TV series gathered together up in Canada, where they have a much better handle on the pandemic. It turned out to be a good thing, considering it won every single comedy award of the night.

Also Read: ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Makes Emmy History With Sweep of Top 7 Comedy Categories
Worst: The in-person presenters.

A few presenters showed up in person, including Jennifer Aniston and Tracee Ellis Ross. Don't think there was too much social distancing going on in a bit that quickly went stale. (We'll cheat a bit and say Anthony Carrigan showing up as "Barry's" NoHo Hank, disguised as a mailman, was pretty great, though.)
Best: “What Have You Been Doing During Quarantine?”

Kimmel turned it over to some of your favorite stars like Will Arnett, Ty Burrell, Chris Harrison, Kenan Thompson and Bob Newhart to ask how they’ve been spending their quarantine. "Good Doctor" star Freddie Highmore joked that for him, masks him more more recognizable. Burrell gave the most R-rated answer: “What have I been doing? More like WHO have I been doing!” (He's married.)
Worst: Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon try to ring in 2021 a few months early.

We get it, 2020 has been awful, but there's still a few more months left. The bit came off a tad tasteless, considering so many have truly suffered this year.

Also Read: Zendaya Becomes Youngest Emmy Winner for Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Best: Martha Schrader’s “Unorthodox” acceptance speech.

While some moments of this year’s Emmys were awkward or stiff, Martha Schrader’s acceptance speech for “Unorthodox,” winning in the Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special category, was genuine and sweet.

Schrader was so excited to win and everyone else on screen shared the joyous moment with her by jumping around in the background and smiling from ear to ear.

Also Read: Emmy Winners by the Numbers: HBO Is Leading Network, ‘Watchmen’ Tops Series
Worst: "Succession" creator Jesse Armstrong's living room.

While we appreciated his "un-thank you" to COVID-19 when he accepted the Best Drama Series prize, "Succession" creator Jesse Armstrong seriously upstaged himself with the clashing patterns in his drapes, sofas and carpet. Perhaps he should hire one of his show's set decorators for a makeover.
Best: Essential workers get to announce nominees (and some winners).

Taking a page out of the Democratic National Convention, the Emmys highlighted essential workers like ER doctors and truckers who are the real heroes during the COVID-19 crisis, and allowed them to read off a few of the nominees. No snark here, just a really nice touch.

Also Read: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow Get Together for Mini ‘Friends’ Reunion During 2020 Emmys
Worst: Sterling K. Brown tries to claim "This Is Us" drama win.

We get it. Jimmy Kimmel hosted a previous awards show that featured the wrong winner announced, but this bit went on way too long. Even Brown himself admitted: "That was embarrassing." It was for us watching too.