Steve Pond over at The Wrap has done a handy cheat sheet to figure out how many votes per branch in the Academy a film needs to reach the “magic number.” In total, a film only needs about 300 number one votes to be nominated for Best Picture. Read Pond’s piece, which is very detailed but I’ve boiled down the numbers with the magic number for each in parenthesis:
Best Picture explained:
The entire Academy votes to nominate for this award – including the Executive, Producers and Public Relations branches and Members-at-Large, none of whom nominate in any other categories. That means 6,028 potential voters. In this category, there are two different magic numbers: the one required to clinch a nomination after the first round of counting, which is about 8.9 percent of the ballots cast, and the five-percent threshold that will secure a nomination after the redistribution rounds are complete. If every eligible voter casts a ballot, the first-round number will be 549 votes, while the ultimate number to shoot for is only 301.
The magic number reached is approximate, obviously, since who knows how many will ultimately vote. This is based on the total number in each branch. Some of the voting procedures are different for each category – more about this in Pond’s piece.
Actors – 1,176 – (max of 197 votes needed to secure a nod)
Sound – 418 (70 is the magic number)
Writers – 378 (63 is the magic number but other writers can vote sometimes so it could be higher)
Directors – 377 (63 votes is the magic number)
Animation – 366 (would be 61, but open to other members if they see 13 animated features)
Visual Effects – 323 (specialized)
Music – 240 (41 is the magic number)
Editing – 230 (39 is the magic number)
Cinematographers – 228 (39 is the magic number)
Documentary – 210 (35 is the magic number)
Makeup & Hairstyle – 135 (specialized)
Costume Designers – 108 (only about 18 votes needed to secure a nod)
Casting – 54 <–no category yet
