The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has rescheduled several dates on its 97th Oscars schedule as LA’s devastating wildfires rage on. 

The org announced this latest update with the caveat that all dates are subject to change in these extraordinary circumstances. It’s extending the voting period for nominations by five days to Friday, January 17, and the nomination announcement has been pushed by six days to January 23. This announcement will be a virtual event this year, without live media coverage by the press.  

As of now, the Oscars are still scheduled to take place on March 2 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, as well as being televised at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC and livestreamed on Hulu in more than 200 territories worldwide. 

“Our members always share how important it is for us to come together as a community, and we are determined to use [the Oscars] to celebrate our resilient and compassionate industry,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang in a joint statement. “We also look forward to honoring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts.” 

The Oscars “want to be sensitive to the infrastructure and lodging needs of the region in these next few weeks,” the execs also said. To that end, The Academy cancelled the annual Oscars Nominee Luncheon, which was originally set for February 10. 

And it plans to reschedule the ceremony for its Scientific and Technical Awards—honoring individuals and companies making innovations and advances in how films are made and screened. This event was in the calendar for February 18, and the Academy will announce a makeup date soon. Last year, some of these gold statues went to new theater projection systems and open-source tool OpenVDB for storing and manipulating CG animation effects.  

While more than a dozen fires have sprung up since January 1, two in particular—the Palisades and Eaton fires—are so far responsible for the deaths of 25 people. More than 12,000 homes, cars and structures in LA have been destroyed, and weather media company/forecaster AccuWeather is estimating more than US$250 billion in total damages and economic loss. 

Other Hollywood events that have already been pushed or cancelled because of the fires include the Critics Choice Awards (rescheduled from January 12 to January 26), the BAFTA Tea Party (cancelled) and the WGA nominations (delayed until further notice). 

Courtesy of Nikhil Mistry via Unsplash.