The Academy ends traditional Oscar screenings to members amid low attendance

The Academy announced new changes

• The Academy will stop screening Oscar-nominated films for members in theaters
• Low attendance and high costs ended post-nomination screenings.
• Members can now watch films on the Academy's streaming service or in theaters.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Oscars, has made the decision to stop showing Oscar-nominated films, leaving some Academy members perplexed.

According to information obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the notification about the latest update was sent to members by email in January's Academy Bulletin. However, it wasn't until a few members tried to organise others to join them in protesting that it started to receive more widespread attention.

The outlet reported that the Academy has screened Oscar-worthy films for its members in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, New York, and London during the year, as well as again following the release of the nominees over the years.

However, attendance at all of these screenings has significantly decreased in recent years, especially in the seven years since the Academy launched its members-only streaming service, the Academy Screening Room, which allows members to see films at home.

This has been particularly noticeable, according to the Academy, at the post-nom screenings, which apparently cost the organization thousands of dollars each. In their letter to members, the group claimed that "an average of five members attended these screenings in the last two years."

Therefore, the Academy made the decision to completely do away with them in order to conserve resources.

During the post-nominations time, some members tell THR that they are indignant that an organisation that is purportedly focused on the big screen would have its members see films that they could have missed during the pre-nominations process on the tiny screen.

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They maintain that it is impossible to adequately assess nominees like Frankenstein and Avatar: Fire and Ash at home.

However, the Academy argues that its members had many chances to see those films on the big screen prior to the nominations, including studio-organised FYC screenings, which studios can now notify members about through a calendar on the members-only website, in addition to official Academy screenings and commercial theatres.