Oscar Noms Set For Earlier Date As Academy Gives Key Dates

It's September, the unofficial start of the long road to the Academy Awards telecast on February 24, 2013. Already, awards campaigns are in the works and the end of last week's Toronto International Film Festival already has a number of titles in play for those oh-so-very-coveted golden statuettes. One big change this year, the Oscar nominations will come out earlier this year.

Nominations will be revealed January 10th, five days earlier than in the past. And that group of 5,500-plus voting members of the Academy will have the opportunity to vote electronically (conceivably a bit harder now for voting members to pass their ballots over to their more eager assistants, perhaps?)

The Academy will make several voting resources available to members during the transition, including the installation of assisted voting stations in Los Angeles, New York and London, a 24-hour telephone help line during voting periods, and paper ballots.
In the pre-Nominations phase, members will continue to vote via paper ballot in eight categories due to specialized screening schedules and processes. Those categories are Animated Feature Film, Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling and Visual Effects.

And the key dates are:

Friday, November 30, 2012: Official Screen Credits due

Saturday, December 1, 2012: Governors Awards presentation

Monday, December 17, 2012: Nominations voting begins

Thursday, January 3, 2013: Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT

Thursday, January 10, 2013: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater

Monday, February 4, 2013: Nominees Luncheon

Friday, February 8, 2013: Final voting begins

Saturday, February 9, 2013: Scientific and Technical Awards presentation

Tuesday, February 19, 2013: Final voting ends 5 p.m. PT

Sunday, February 24, 2013: 85th Academy Awards presentation