ASIFA-Hollywood cancels its live ceremony due to the spread of Omicron; event will instead stream live March 12.
ASIFA-Hollywood just announced that the 49th Annual Annie Awards will move to a virtual format. The live ceremony, originally set for February 26, has been canceled due to the growing concern over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. The event will now instead stream live on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 7 p.m. PT.
The link for the livestream will be free and available to everyone who wants to view the ceremony and a complete recording of the livestream will be available on the Annie Awards website the following day.
“When we announced that the Annies would be in-person this year on February 26, the Omicron variant was not even on the horizon,” commented Frank Gladstone, ASIFA's executive director. “But now it is here and so highly infectious that, after much debate and discussion, ASIFA's board of directors has decided, in an abundance of caution, to once again move to a virtual ceremony. We've also moved the date of the event by two weeks to give our production crew time to gather and edit the huge amount of additional material it takes to construct the virtual ceremony.”
The Annie Awards celebrate contributions to the art of animation that exhibit outstanding excellence in animation. ASIFA-Hollywood recognizes the need to honor the achievements of individual artists and the animation industry. This year’s awards cover 36 categories and include Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Feature-Independent, Special Productions, Sponsored Films, Short Subjects, Student Films and Outstanding Individual Achievements, as well as the honorary Juried Awards.
Source: ASIFA-Hollywood
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
