Oscars: Academy Establishes New Category for Stunt Design Beginning with 100th Oscars

Just a year after announcing a new Oscar category for casting (which will go into effect this season), the Academy has revealed that stunts will get their day.

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today the creation of an annual competitive Academy Award for Achievement in Stunt Design, beginning with the 100th Academy Awards for films released in 2027.

“Since the early days of cinema, stunt design has been an integral part of filmmaking,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang. “We are proud to honor the innovative work of these technical and creative artists, and we congratulate them for their commitment and dedication in reaching this momentous occasion.”

Currently, there are 23 Oscars categories, each represented by an branch individual branch. The lack of a branch devoted to stunt work has partly been the belief of a lack of Oscar recognition in this area. More than 100 stunt professionals are members of the Academy’s Production and Technology Branch.

Category rules for eligibility and voting for the inaugural award will be announced in 2027 with the complete 100th Academy Awards Rules. The specifics of the award’s presentation will be determined by the Academy’s Board of Governors and executive leadership at a future date.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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