This year, and at the risk of personal burnout, the instinct was to add two – count ‘em – two new chefs to the ever-expanding kitchen. Brian Kinsley did a fine job of acclimating the site to the new season with a weekly script review column, while John Foote took over Gerard’s former duties as our festival correspondent in Toronto. Both stints were brief and served a fitting and meaningful purpose where awards coverage is concerned, but I felt In Contention was beginning to drown in its own ambition. This might explain a rather ambivalent approach to the then upcoming weekly coverage as August progressed.

In the plainest of terms, the site I have envisioned for a number of years – I will freely and humbly admit – I don’t have the means or the time to develop. There is still an ideal, I believe. An awards coverage site with a pool of journalists (rather than sideline pundits), an array of opinionated talent and a dedication to comprehensive analysis is still floating in the ether and can still happen. Many an outlet, from the Los Angeles Times to Movie City News, continues to dance with the issue, but it simply hasn’t fully formulated yet. In Contention has been a sturdy effort on my part that, I’m happy to see, has been a welcome resource in the community. But “the next step” may in fact be something more collective in its philosophy.

When I first began my online presence, there were three sites featuring a specific dedication to the film awards season. Today there are dozens, and as traditional media continues to dive in, as Oscar advertising continues to inflate revenue, the cat is (and has been) out of the bag. But in this ego-driven corner of the blogosphere, no one seems to be willing to be the conveyor of that limitless coverage (though The Envelope seems to be throwing a lot at the wall to see what sticks this season...I commend them). That ever elusive next step is, in fact, a site that expedites the online Oscar-watching experience.

And so, I come to the long-broken news that I will take on a new role as editor of Variety’s freshly conceived Oscar blog, “Red Carpet District.” The blog will go live this Thursday, October 25, to coincide with the launch of the trade’s Award Central section. Variety’s vision is one of consolidation, and as an audience, you can expect something in the way of a one-stop shop for the film awards frenzy, the Frankenstein for which some of us must certainly take responsibility. We will be linking to the stories and items we feel represent the savviest of analysis and coverage, while I will provide the mortar of original content to fill in the gaps. It is an exciting new enterprise and in some ways I believe I will enjoy straddling the line of commentator and observer more than you might expect. Accusations of hubris aside (though still taken to heart), I consider myself more than capable of learning from the film awards watching community as a whole, and so I very much look forward to serving this new and unique role.

To avoid repetition, I think it only reasonable that I scale back my efforts here at In Contention considerably. My weekly Oscar columns will be discontinued. Any points I would have made therein will be made at “Red Carpet District.” I may, however, jump in from time to time with this exclusive column or that. The site will otherwise remain the home of my personal Oscar predictions as they are something of a commodity to me and a reason for many to come to the site. The main page will likely begin to resemble a blog dedicated to justification of prediction choices, announcing changes and spinning those speculative wheels for old time’s sake. Interviews and reviews will continue to be a fixture, though blog activity may or may not cease on my end. That portion of the site will remain a playground for Gerard and Brian as they see fit.

Speaking of Gerard, his contribution will go forward as is. “Tech Support” is the most unique aspect of available Oscar coverage, and you’d better believe I’ll be linking to his work shamelessly at “Red Carpet District.”

So, there we have it. I’ve enjoyed the heavy workload of In Contention the last two years and it is with a mixture of intrigue and sadness that I rein in the ambition. But I think you will all enjoy what we’re working on at Variety and, if anything, we’ll all finally have a true hub for film awards coverage linking us to the stories we want to peruse.

To the readers: happy reading. To the bloggers: happy blogging. And to the season’s contenders: happy contending. We’re all taking the next step together.

This week’s charts:

Main Category Charts
Technical Category Charts

The Contenders (by category)
2007 Films-by-Studio Rundown
Oscar Predictions Archive

Previous Oscar Columns:
10/15/07 - "The Oil Man vs. the Demon Barber?"
10/08/07 - "Clean-up on Aisle September"
10/01/07 - "Still Anybody's Game"
09/17/07 - "Post-Toronto Update"
09/10/07 - "Notes from the Eye of a Storm"
09/03/07 - "Launching the New Season"
08/03/07 - "August Update"
07/01/07 - "The Silence is Deafening"
02/26/07 - "Forging Ahead: In Contention's Year in Advance Oscar Speculation"

2006 Predictions Archive