How Golden Globe nominations voting works (and why it's important to the Oscar race)
Who votes during the Golden Globes nomination process?
Launched by several Los Angeles-based, foreign-born journalists in 1943, the earliest incarnation of the HFPA was founded as a means to network with each other as representatives of foreign cultural markets living in the United States during the turbulence of World War II (and the public’s subsequent hunger for escapist cinema and news about it). Their first awards were given out the following year.
Today’s HFPA is made up of approximately 90 active members from 55 countries with an estimated total readership of more than 250 million collectively across their respective publications, which include newspapers and magazines from Britain’s The Daily Telegraph to German Vogue and the China Times.
How does the HFPA nominate movies and determine category placement?
All active members of the HFPA are eligible to vote in all categories. But before they get there, studios and publicists must submit entry forms. This year, documents were collected between July 15 and the end of October. Once the forms are collected, HFPA membership meets as a whole to go over the list of submissions to make sure all entries are in the proper categories (they have the power to switch films between the comedy/musical and drama categories as well as performances from supporting to lead and vice-versa, as they did with Natalie Portman’s performance in Vox Lux this year) and that they contain no errors. The group also checks to make sure supporting performances appear in at least 5 percent of their parent film and that foreign language contenders contain at least 50 percent non-English dialogue.
This process produces the “reminders list,” a compilation of all eligible projects and talent. That list then goes to an accounting firm, Ernst & Young, which reviews it for mistakes before distributing it to all active members for nominations voting. All active members select five nominees in each category. This year, ballots — along with the reminders list — went out on Nov. 21 on a return deadline of Sunday, Dec. 2 at 8:00 p.m. PT.
Though the HFPA does not use the Academy-favored preferential ballot ranking system to determine its nominees and winners, members rank their five respective nominees in each category on a 1-5 scale. The majority system is used to tabulate nominees unless a tie for fifth place occurs; then, the preferential system is used as a tie-breaker for the final nomination slot. Ernst & Young then tallies the results and keeps them secret until the nominations morning announcement.
What role do the Golden Globes play in awards season?
Unlike industry collectives with fancy awards shows that share crossover membership with the Academy (like the Screen Actors Guild, the Producers Guild of America, and the Directors Guild of America), the HFPA’s voting base comprises strictly non-industry journalists. This means its tastes in movies and television — as reflected in the nominees — do not inherently blend with the Academy’s.
The keys to understanding the Globes’ importance in the awards machine, however, are time and dates. Visibility is the most important thing the HFPA can provide for a film in the Oscar race. For example, this year, the HFPA announces its nominees on Thursday ahead of its highly publicized awards ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 6. The Academy’s nominations voting begins the day after, on Monday, Jan. 7. This means receiving a Golden Globe nomination (and particularly a win) can make a project or performance a must-see for an Oscar voter heading into Academy Awards voting.
When Oscar voters have mountains of screeners to sift through during awards season, the Golden Globes’ stamp of approval (whether it be a nomination or victory) and subsequent publicity immediately makes that title a priority. And the proof is in the Globes’ track record of anointing best picture winners that follow up with Academy Award nominations.
It’s also acknowledged that the Golden Globes ceremony is a “testing ground” for acceptance speeches, giving contending actors a chance to make their case (and show their gratitude and general likability) on a winners’ podium viewed around the world as a means to gain industry (and popular) support en route to a potential Oscar nomination or win. Acceptance speeches are performances in the machine, too, and landing one can give any Oscar campaign a much-needed boost of publicity ahead of Academy balloting.
The 2019 Golden Globe nominations will be announced on Thursday morning, followed by NBC’s live broadcast of the 76th Golden Globes awards ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
