8 New Awards Categories That Would Make The Oscars Better
4. Best Debut/Breakthrough Of An Actor, Director Or Writer
The BAFTA's do it, and now it's time for the Academy to do the same.
A first role can define a career for up-and-comers, and for actors like Hailee Steinfeld (her debut was True Grit back in 2010) she was nominated against some serious competition at the time. Then you have Barkhad Abdi; whose role in Captian Philipps sky-rocketed him to fame and toward distinct notoriety.
While it might be seen as patronizing to separate the accredited from the newcomers, it would also help for exposure for the newbies within the industry. All directors nominated this year have something in common (besides the obvious); they're all already established.
The amount of aspiring and independent films made by first-timers each year is astonishing, and it can be upsetting when they fall by the wayside and lose media attention in favor of smaller films made by acclaimed creators.
This would be a category where even if the nominees don't win, boasting an Academy Award nomination on their first outing would be great for the profile of future talent.
And for those that do win, it would be fun to see what they achieve in later life knowing they had such promise behind them.