Oscars 2019: Four awards to be presented during commercial breaks

Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that four Oscar awards will be presented during commercial breaks at this year's ceremony.

The four awards affected by the new change are for best cinematography, film editing, live action short and makeup and hairstyling. The 91st annual Academy Awards is set to take place on Feb. 24.

Academy president John Bailey made the announcement on Monday in a letter sent to Academy members. Bailey confirmed that winning speeches for the four awards will be edited down and presented later in the telecast.

The complete, four presentations for the awards will also be available for viewing online on Oscar.com and on the Academy's social media channels.

Bailey also said that the the Academy will be rotating each year which categories are presented during commercial breaks with cinematography, film editing, live action short and makeup and hairstyling being exempted from the new changes in 2020.

The changes are being made in order to cut down on the length of the awards ceremony and to present a leaner, three-hour telecast for viewers.

"Viewing patterns for the Academy Awards are changing quickly in our current multi-media world, and our show must also evolve to successfully continue promoting motion pictures to a worldwide audience. This has been our core mission since we were established 91 years ago-and it is the same today," Bailey said in the letter.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who won Best Director and Best Picture for Shape of Water at last year's Oscars ceremony, took issue with the changes on Twitter.

"If I may: I would not presume to suggest what categories to cut during the Oscars show but - Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft. They are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or a literary tradition: they are cinema itself," he said.