The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced Wednesday new campaign regulations in its music branch in order to make sure the “Alone Yet Not Alone” debacle from the 2013 awards season never happens again.
The new rules state that Music Branch members can no longer communicate with fellow branch members in any way to promote their own work. That includes by email, social media, telephone or old fashioned snail mail.
While the Academy obviously didn’t say anything specific, it is clear that this change was made in response to the “Alone Yet Not Alone” controversy that dominated the awards season and kept attention away from the films. In that situation, AMPAS made the rare move to rescind a nomination for the song, which appeared in a little-seen Christian film that was never screened outside of Encino, California during the eligibility period.
The song certainly never had a chance to beat Frozen’s “Let It Go” in the original song category, but AMPAS still had a big problem on its hands. It was revealed that songwriter Bruce Broughton, a former governor of the Music Branch, sent emails to members promoting his song. He later insisted that he did nothing wrong and no one should have felt pressured to vote for his song, even if they knew he was an Academy member.
Well, now what Broughton did is definitely not allowed.
The next Oscars ceremony is set for Feb. 22 in Hollywood and will air on ABC.
image of AMPAS president Cheryl Boone Isaacs courtesy of INFphoto.com