Oscar voting

The voting process behind the Oscars might be a little more complicated than you think …

Transcript

00:00The Oscars will be announced on Sunday night, but the winners for each category have already

00:03been decided. So how exactly are Oscars winners chosen? Brute can explain in less than 60 seconds.

00:08Nearly 9,500 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have voted on this

00:14year's Oscars, and the Academy's voting process can get a little complex. This 9,500 person voting

00:20committee, which is made up of industry professionals, is split up into 17 different

00:24branches. Aside from a few exceptions, members only nominate for awards that are within their

00:28own branch, so directors for directors, actors for actors, and so on. But everybody gets to

00:33nominate candidates for the year's best picture. Once nominations are set, members can vote for

00:37all categories regardless of their own branch. In recent years, the Academy has worked to

00:41diversify its voting membership, inviting more women, people of color, and international

00:46filmmakers to join. And just last year, the Academy announced it was inviting 397 new

00:51members to join, including Ariana DeBose, Cheryl Lee Ralph, and Billie Eilish.