After many years of passionate calls to an Oscar recognizing the art of the waterfall, the film Academy decided to give it an official prize.
A price of realization in the waterfalls will be added from the 100th Academy Awards, Who will recognize the films released in 2027, the academy announced Thursday.
“Since the first days of cinema, the design of the waterfalls has been an integral part of the cinema,” said the CEO of the Academy, Bill Kramer and the president of the Academy, Janet Yang, in a joint press release. “We are proud to honor the innovative work of these technical and creative artists, and we congratulate them for their commitment and their dedication to reach this important opportunity.”
David Leitch, who directed “The Fall Guy”, who was himself an ode to the stuntmen, helped lead the new price. Leitch began his career as a stuntman for stars like Brad Pitt before moving on to the making of stuntmen like “John Wick”. He and the coordinator and designer of Cascades Chris O’Hara of Ulimited stoves made presentations at the Academy pleading for the addition of a new prize.
Stunt designer is a relatively new designation. For his work on “The Fall Guy”, O’hara was the first person to be credited as such.
“To be considered by the cinematographic community as creators of waterfalls, let’s hope, bring more light to what we really make,” O’Hara told the Associated Press in 2024. “At the time, cascade strokes were cowboys. Now we are creative. We are creating incredible things, just like a production creator or a costumer.”
The Oscars paid tribute to the Cascades community with a video editing during the 2024 ceremony, looking at more than 100 years of Hollywood waterfalls by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to “Mission: Impossible” and “The Matrix”.
Other prices were ahead of the curve in the celebration of waterfalls: Emmys Honors Couded Coordination and Stunt Performance, while the Screen Actors Guild prices recognize sets of cascades on television and cinema.
The production and technology branch of the film Academy has more than 100 stuntmen among its ranks.
The Oscars have also recently added an production price in the casting, starting with films released in 2025. As for the Award casting, it is not clear if it will be added to the live broadcast of the Oscars.