LOS ANGELES, June 25 (UPI) -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has approved rules for the 77th Annual Academy Awards, with only minor changes from last year.
The academy approved a change in the Sound Editing Award rules that will guarantee three nominations in the category. Previous rules permitted three annual options -- the board could vote a Special Achievement Award for Sound Editing; the final ballot could lisst two or three nominees; or there could be no award in a given year.
Under the new rules, seven pictures will be chosen by a poll of eligible members of the academy's sound branch. A sound editing awards committee will screen those films and choose three nominees, and all eligible voting members of the academy will choose the Oscar winner.
The board also approved a rule allowing marketers to show up to 10 minutes or 10 percent of the running time of a film -- whichever is shorter, and only in a non-theatrical setting -- prior to the film's theatrical release, without jeopardizing the film's eligibility.
