Going for the gold! The 95th Oscars will see Hollywood's A-listers walk the red carpet and present their peers with the hotly-coveted little golden men. But have you ever wondered who else is on stage with the presenters?
Occasionally the camera will capture the men and women who will wait to the side of the stage to give the statue to the presenter, who then hands it off to the winner. These men and women are now alumni of the Academy's Academy Gold program, a "development and inclusion initiative that provides creative individuals of diverse backgrounds access and resources to achieve their career pathways in filmmaking".
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In 2019 Natalia Bell and Oscar Garcia were two of the six chosen to be involved in the special day, and they shared in a video how the day was "transformative".
"Everyone waits in anticipation, including us because we're in the wings backstage, and they call the winner. We quickly identify how many Oscars actually need to go out and we will give the trophies to the presenters," shared Natalia, a burgeoning director and filmmaker.
"We kind of gently guide everyone to a suitable place so that people who won the awards [don't] have people in their background when they speak and then when their speeches are [finished], we gently guide them off stage."
But it wasn't always that way. In fact, it was only 10 years ago that it was the sexist tradition of the "buxom babe" who would hand over the trophy. That changed in 2013 when Neil Meron, co-producer of the 2013 Academy Awards, and Craig Zadan decided to make an update.
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Tayo Amos waits with Jennifer lawrence at the 2014 Oscars
"They're just there to be objectified. Why can't we have people who actually care about film and are the future of film be the trophy presenters?" said Neil, revealing that they decided to pick six college students from across the country won a contest to help present the Oscar statuettes this year.
"How will you contribute to the future of film?" they were asked, and more than 1,100 students submitted essays and videos with the six winners from across the country picked by the producers.
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Natalia Hall escorts Daniel Craig and Mahershala Ali off stage
Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel is returning to host the Academy Awards for the third time in his career, while nominees for this year's Oscars include titles such as Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Banshees of Inisherin.
The former, which stars Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis, has managed to bag 11 nominations in major categories such as Best Picture, Leading Actress and Supporting Actress.
Meanwhile, The Banshees of Inisherin, which stars Colin Farrell and Brendon Gleeson, has scooped nine nominations. Netflix's big war blockbuster, All Quiet on the Western Front, has also received nine nods.
You can see the full list of nominations here.
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