The board of directors for ASIFA-Hollywood has decided that its 49th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation will move to a virtual format instead of a live ceremony that was originally set for Saturday, February 26. Reasons for the change are due primarily to the growing concern over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
The Annies will 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 covers 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.
