The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has quietly stepped back from the absolutism of the 2024 representation and inclusion standards.

I wouldn’t want to leap to conclusions, but this seems to be in line with the recent exodus of DEI execs from production companies and even the Academy itself.

Boiled down, producers and filmmakers who don’t want to jump through the Academy’s “identity reporting” hoops are free to shine the whole process if they want.

Deadline‘s Michael Cieply reported this yesterday (8.10): “Thanks to a quiet change in enforcement protocols, feature films entered in this year’s Academy Awards contest will be able to avoid reporting gender, race and disability data required by new inclusion standards governing Best Picture contenders, simply by opting out of contention for the top Oscar.

“The policy shift — which became apparent in recent changes to the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ addendum to the Academy’s Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry platform — could free dozens or even hundreds of films vying for Oscars other than Best Picture.

“A previously declared requirement stated that all 300 or so awards contenders submit identity data regardless of their Best Picture prospects.”

Does everyone reading this understand the import? The Maoist DEI virus is weakening and receding.

Cieply: “Until recently, the Academy’s FAQ advisory noted that all features submitted for Oscar consideration were required to report detailed identity data on the platform, because the Academy was unable to say in advance which films might actually wind up in the Best Picture race, the only category for which inclusion standards will be enforced.

“By this week, however, that provision had been replaced with a new answer to Question 13, which asks: ‘Am I required to create a RAISE submission for a film that I don’t want to be considered for Best Picture?’

“The new answer says: ‘You will have the option to opt-in or opt-out for Best Picture consideration. If you do decide to opt-out, then you do not need to fill out a RAISE form.”

Certain DEI Hollywood wokesters (including, I would imagine, Variety‘s Clayton Davis) are having a shit fit as we speak.