Recent news from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles reflects the strength of the Time Out brand internationally. The Academy has changed the eligibility rules for feature documentaries. Hitherto, feature documentaries were required to have been reviewed by a critic from either The Los Angeles Times or The New York Times in order to qualify. Now, Time Out New York has been added to that short and prestigious list.
“In short, a review in our pages makes a film officially legit in the Oscars' eyes,” says Phil de Semlyen, Time Out Global Film Editor.
The Academy has also widened the field to include documentaries that have won awards at eligible competitive film festivals. In the past, only documentaries that have played in theaters for one week in both New York and LA could make the cut.