One Simple Rule Could Have Saved the 2021 Oscars
The Oscars show producers forgot to heed one rule all event organizers should plan for — always know your ending.
The 2021 Academy Awards concluded with a memorable ending, but not the one many expected. Joaquin Phoenix’s surprise announcement of Anthony Hopkins as Best Actor for his role in “The Father” gave the show an abrupt conclusion that caused a social media backlash.
Yet, if the show’s producers had followed the golden rule of filmmaking of “always know your ending,” it all could have been avoided.
And that’s the key lesson any event organizer can learn from the 93rd Academy Awards — know precisely how you want your event to end from day one of planning.
Many awards watchers expected the late Chadwick Boseman to win for his performance in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
This expectation gained momentum as Boseman earned posthumous honors from the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and NAACP Image Awards earlier in the year.
As the oddsmakers’ and sentimental favorite, Boseman’s expected win appeared to influence the Oscars television show producers to schedule the Best Actor announcement as the final category of the night — a place normally reserved for the show’s biggest award, Best Picture. (“Nomadland” ended up winning Best Picture).
To be fair, the show’s producers, including Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, said beforehand that they planned to change up some things in the event to generate interest, despite viewership for awards shows being on the decline for several years now. The gamble was to announce Best Actor last, hope that Boseman won, and end the night with an emotional tribute to the late actor.
But, the producers could not be 100% certain that Boseman’s name would be said at all.
The accounting firm of Price Waterhouse, which oversees the Oscars voting, can not divulge any of the winners, even to the show’s producers, until the actual envelope is opened on stage. So the producers had to hope their Best Actor finale gamble paid off.
But like in Las Vegas, not all “sure bets” payout as expected.
Instead of a hoped for an extended tribute for Boseman’s life and career at the end of the evening, the audience in person and watching from home watched Phoenix accept the award for the 83-year-old Hopkins, who was unable to attend in person as a precaution for the current pandemic. Hopkins was also not given the option to participate virtually just in case he won, but he did post a brief acceptance speech the next day on Instagram.
The show abruptly ended in an anticlimax as the credits rolled on the screen, leaving many watching at home confused and rather annoyed.
Was the gamble worth it? According to one ABC executive, yes (actually) since people ended up talking about the show’s ending on social media and elsewhere, despite the abrupt plot twist. Hey, buzz is buzz, right? (Or is it?)
So what can live or virtual event producers in any field learn from all this?
Know right from the start how you want your event to end and plan what takeaways or even emotions you want your attendees to leave with.
And don’t leave it to chance.
Especially if your hoped for keynote speaker or final presentation ends up changing at the last minute, or a change has to be made, such as having your speaker be remote rather than in person.
Always be prepared for that possibility.
By planning and knowing your conclusion as you start your event planning process, your show or event can have a feel-good Hollywood style ending.
Additional links:
Anthony Hopkins on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/COHpbqpHcqY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
2021 Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscars
ABC Executive on Oscars Ending
https://people.com/movies/osars-2021-abc-executive-addresses-abrupt-ending/