The Academy Overlooks the Value of Short Films

I have been a professional film and video maker for 15 years, and this is the first year of my life where I may finally have the option of producing an independently realized film that may qualify for the short-subject Oscar.

On first reading of the board’s decision to eliminate the category, I was disappointed, but not distressed. Anyone who has been in this business long enough knows that nothing is presented to you on a gilded platter. To hear of the academy’s decision only strengthened my resolve to create a work of art that I would be proud of.

It would be nice to get the recognition of my peers, and I believe there are many outside of the academy who would recognize any film on its merits. I wonder why they took these actions now, so soon after the death of one of the most eminent makers of short films in history: Hal Roach.

STEPHEN A. GRAHAM, Burbank