Film and television: The Oscars and the fire drama – “The Show Must Go On”

Film and television: The Oscars and the fire drama – “The Show Must Go On”

Film and television
The Oscars and the fire drama – “The Show Must Go On”






Hollywood is relying on the Oscar gala, but the shock after the fires in Los Angeles is deep. The German actor Eric Braeden lost his house, one of many. What’s next?

The distributors of the Golden Globes, who like to praise their trophy show as “Hollywood’s party of the year,” are probably right this season. Just two days after the Globe Gala on January 5th, devastating fires hit the Los Angeles area. At least 28 deaths, more than 15,000 buildings destroyed, entire neighborhoods in ruins. A party atmosphere is no longer an option, but the entertainment metropolis is firmly sticking to the motto “The Show Must Go On”.

The Oscar nominations, which were postponed twice due to the fire disaster, are due on Thursday, and the 97th Oscars ceremony is scheduled to take place as planned on March 2nd in Hollywood. And the Grammy show will take place on February 2nd – with appeals for donations for the victims of the fire, emphasize the music award winners.

Escape from the sea of ​​flames

Other award shows now have new dates after postponements, but Hollywood is far from normal: thousands have lost their homes, including the native German and long-time Californian by choice Eric Braeden, star of the US soap opera “The Young and the Restless” (” Shadow of Passion”). With his mansion in Pacific Palisades, almost all of his possessions burned.

“In a very short time it was a sea of ​​flames,” says the 83-year-old in an interview with dpa about escaping the house with his wife. They rushed to save their passports, other important papers and a few pictures, nothing more. “This is what post-war Germany looked like,” says the Hollywood actor, who was born near Kiel in 1941, about the completely destroyed neighborhoods.

He lived in the leafy residential area on the western edge of Los Angeles for more than 40 years. Braeden raves about great garden parties by the pool. For now, the Emmy award winner and his wife are staying in a friend’s empty apartment in Santa Monica. He knows at least 20 people affected, including colleagues, who lost their homes.

Filming continues

For Braeden, whose real name is Hans-Jörg Gudegast, who also starred in the Oscar hit “Titanic” (1997), at least one routine continues. Filming on the cult series “The Young And The Restless,” in which he plays the ruthless industrialist Victor Newman, quickly began again.

Munich-born Michael Keller (53), who has been working as an audio engineer in Hollywood for over 30 years – and was nominated for an Oscar in the “Best Sound” category for the biopic “Elvis” in 2023 – also experienced the “Palisades” fire . “Fortunately, it’s half a kilometer away,” says Keller. His home in Sherman Oaks still stands. “But when you see a cloud of smoke ten kilometers high, your heart stops.” He also has friends and acquaintances in the film industry who have lost everything.

Thousands of industry employees are affected

Reconstruction will take years. “It will probably be six months before all the rubble and garbage is gone,” fears Keller. Hollywood studios did not burn down, but two major fires left behind destroyed infrastructure in residential areas, thousands of industry employees are affected – in a film metropolis with already expensive rents and a shortage of living space that has not yet recovered from the corona pandemic and the subsequent strike by screenwriters and actor has recovered.

Keller, who worked as a sound mixer on countless major studio films, from “Green Lantern” to “Suicide Squad” to “Elvis” and “Flash”, feels the consequences for the battered industry. Last year he only worked two weeks. “It’s absolute horror and I’ve now filed for unemployment,” says Keller.

Hollywood has long been suffering from the fact that major film productions are moving to other US states or abroad, lured by tax breaks. Keller and Braeden see the exodus in production as a major problem for the location. His son, director and screenwriter Christian Gudegast, also shot his latest film “Criminal Squad 2” in Spain thanks to enormous tax relief, says Braeden.

Last fall, California Governor Gavin Newsom promised greater tax relief for Hollywood. But people in the industry are now wondering whether these millions will still be available from the state treasury after the expensive major fires.

In the “City of Angels” many people are currently showing their generosity. After the fires broke out, the Walt Disney Company alone promised $15 million in emergency aid for those affected. Stars reach into their own pockets, including Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio and singer Beyoncé.

The 67th Grammy Gala will raise funds for the victims. The Oscar show should also be used to support the film community and honor those helping in the fight against the fires, said Academy CEO Bill Kramer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Could the Oscars be canceled?

In view of the fires, the American best-selling author Stephen King calls for the planned Oscar ceremony in March to be canceled. He understands that the Oscars are a celebration of life “and the show must go on, blah-blah-blah, and so on and so forth,” the 77-year-old wrote on the online platform Bluesky. That all makes sense to a certain extent. “But to me it still feels like Nero playing the violin while Rome burns. Or in this case, like wearing extravagant clothes while LA burns.”

Academy member Keller, who is allowed to vote on the Oscar candidates, believes that the show’s cancellation is highly unlikely, also because the film academy’s worldwide broadcast of the show “involves an incredible amount of money.”

No cancellations, just postponements

There has never been a cancellation in the Academy’s long history, and shows have only been delayed a few times. After a flood disaster in Los Angeles, the 1938 ceremony had to be postponed by a week. In 1968 the celebration took place two days later than initially planned. The reason was the funeral of the murdered civil rights activist Martin Luther King.

The show was postponed by one day in 1981 due to an assassination attempt on US President Ronald Reagan. Reagan survived the attack, seriously injured. Because of the corona pandemic, the 2021 award was postponed to the end of April on a much smaller scale.

dpa

Source: Stern

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