'RRR' Bags Golden Globe Nominations; Who Votes for the Awards? | What We Know

'RRR' has been nominated for the Golden Globes under two categories.

The poster for RRR, which bagged two nominations at the Golden Globes 2023.

(Photo Courtesy: IMDb)

The nominees for the 80th Golden Globe Awards, which will be held on 10 January, were announced on Monday, 12 December. The Golden Globes have been awarded to films and television shows since 1943 and 1961 respectively.

Who votes? The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). In 2022, the HFPA announced the inclusion of 103 new international non-member voters. 

To note: The Indian film RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli, has been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards under two categories.

• It has been nominated for 'Best Non-English Language' and for 'Best Original Song' for the track 'Naatu Naatu'.

Here’s some information on how these nominations happen every year:

Quick history lesson: The Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association was formed by Los Angeles-based overseas journalists in 1943 and split into two groups in 1950.

• The two groups were The Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association and the Foreign Press Association of Hollywood. One handed out Golden Globes and the other gave out Henriettas. 

They joined to form the HFPA in 1955.

How are films/ shows nominated? Each member receives a ballot with the eligible films (it should have opened in the US in the year of consideration). Members must then choose and rank 5 nominees in each category. 

Members are invited to screenings as part of the voting process. The accounting firm Ernst & Young tallies the nomination ballots and also the member votes. 

Who can join the HFPA? 

• The HFPA consists of Southern California-based journalists who cover Hollywood for publications in 55 countries including those in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa among others. 

• Journalists living anywhere in the US, who cover entertainment for foreign outlets, can apply. They must have a membership to or an accreditation from a recognised organisation. 

• The application requires eight work samples from the past 2 years and a letter of recommendation from a journalist, among other things.

Of note: The Golden Globes telecast is one of the most watched non-sports programs and yet, the 79th Golden Globe ceremony wasn’t broadcast and winners were announced on Twitter.

This came after a Los Angeles Times expose alleged ethical lapses in the HFPA and pointed out that no Black journalist was part of the 87 voting members. 

The fallout was that several studios and PR firms said they would boycott the Golden Globes till change happened. 

• Tom Cruise returned his three awards and NBC, the awards’ telecaster, announced they wouldn’t air the 79th Globes. 

• The HFPA responded by saying, in a statement, that it would focus on improving representation w.r.t members and increasing transparency. 

How much does HFPA earn from the NBC deal? Variety had reported in 2018 that as part of a new deal, NBC would pay $60 million per year for the Globes; a significant increase from the original $20 million decided in 2010.

What has changed? The HFPA has a new code of conduct, a chief diversity officer, and a five-year partnership with the NAACP.

• What Hoehne called ‘HFPA 2.0’, also brought on 21 new members (with 6 Black journalists and added people of colour and outside advisors to the board of directors. 

• The 80th Golden Globes will be telecast by NBC, which agreed to a one-year agreement.

Check out the Golden Globe 2023 nominations here.