Since January 7, more than 100,000 residents of the Los Angeles metropolitan area have been placed under evacuation orders in response to major wildfires that have already resulted in five fatalities and thousands of destroyed structures. As the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and Sunset fires continue to rage, 400,000 homes and businesses have experienced power outages. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has given a boil-water notice and urged residents to conserve water. With the area officially in a state of emergency, many film and television productions have come to a halt. A number of awards shows and nomination announcements have already been postponed or canceled with voting bodies, nominees, and workers affected by the fires.
As this devastating natural disaster coincides with the film industry’s awards season, Jean Smart urged “any of the networks televising the upcoming awards” to cancel their ceremony broadcasts, and to consider “donating the revenue they would have garnered to victims of the fires and the firefighters.” Many people in the post’s replies have argued that these awards ceremonies and broadcasts employ hundreds of below-the-line workers in production and event staffing, while actor Brad Garrett replied with applause emojis.
Below, the award- season events that have been affected so far.
LAFCA Awards postponed
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced over Bluesky that its awards banquet, initially scheduled for Saturday, January 11, at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, is postponed.
WGA nominations rescheduled
The Writers Guild of America postponed the release of its annual nominees list to next week on Monday, January 13. The simultaneous East and West Coast ceremonies are still scheduled to take place on February 15 at the Edison Ballroom and the Beverly Hilton, respectively.
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards postponed
The AARP Movies for Grownups awards was meant to be hosted by Alan Cumming at the Beverly Wilshire on Saturday, January 11, “in consideration of the families and communities impacted,” but has been delayed by organizers with no new date set.
Oscar nominations rescheduled
On January 8, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer told Oscars voters that the live nominations ceremony had been rescheduled from Friday, January 17, to Sunday, January 19. The Academy also extended the voting period by two days, as many Shortlist screenings and branch bake-offs have had to reschedule; the voting window will now close on Tuesday, January 14.
Critics Choice Awards rescheduled
Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin released a statement on January 8 announcing that the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards will be rescheduled from Sunday, January 12, to January 26, saying, “All our thoughts and prayers are with those battling the devastating fires and all who have been affected.” The ceremony will still be hosted by Chelsea Handler at Santa Monica’s Barker Hanger and broadcast live on E! with Peacock streaming the next day.
SAG nominations broadcast canceled
The Screen Actors Guild was scheduled to present its nominations for this year’s SAG Awards at 10:30 a.m. PT on January 8 with Cooper Koch and Joey King presenting via a live broadcast to the Guild’s YouTube channel. Due to the wildfires and adverse wind conditions, the nominees were instead announced via press release at 7:30 a.m. PT the following morning. The SAG Awards ceremony is still scheduled for February 23 at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles. It will be hosted by Kristen Bell and streamed live on Netflix.
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