Rule Twenty
Special Rules for the Sound Editing Award

1. The Academy President shall instruct the Sound Editor Governor to chair the Sound Editing Award Committee, comprised of all members of the Academy Sound Branch.

2. A reminder list of all eligible productions shall be sent with a ballot to all members of the Academy Sound Branch who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five productions. The seven productions receiving the highest number of votes from this initial balloting shall be the achievements to be considered further for the Sound Editing Award.

3. Eligibility for this award shall be limited to the Supervising Sound Editor directly involved in and primarily responsible for the planning, creation, direction and execution of the sound design and editing for each achievement. The Supervising Sound Editor must be the primary creative decision maker and principal interpreter of the director’s vision to the sound editing team. The Supervising Sound Editor must approve the sound effects and their specific placement in the film, coordinate the creation of newly designed sound and foley effects and the editing of dialogue and ADR. The Supervising Sound Editor must oversee the recording of the pre-dubs and be present to supervise the final mix. In the event the above responsibilities are divided, both co-supervisors must adhere to the above criteria.

4. Nomination eligibility of the Supervising Sound Editor responsible for the achievement shall be determined by the Sound Editing Award Rules Committee.

5. The producers or directors (or their designees) shall also be requested to provide the committee with film excerpts of selected scenes from composite prints in the same sound format as that in which the film was commercially released in Los Angeles County and in accordance with Rules Two and Three. Double system or picture-and-track excerpts will be accepted only when a film was originally released in this format. Excerpts from each production shall not exceed ten minutes in total running time.

6. The Sound Editing Award Committee shall meet to screen the film excerpts and vote on the achievements. All film excerpts will be run at the Academy Standard sound level. Producers and directors of the productions under consideration (or their representatives) may attend the meeting at the option of the committee.

7. Following the screening of film excerpts, voting shall be conducted as follows:
(a) A ballot shall be cast by all members of the Sound Editing Award Committee present, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than three of the seven productions.

(b) The three productions receiving the highest number of votes shall become the nominations for final voting for the Sound Editing Award.
(c) Final voting for the Sound Editing Award shall be restricted to active and life Academy members.

8. Excerpt reels shall become the property of the Academy and placed in the Academy Film Archive, with the proviso that the Academy will not use these reels for commercial gain.

9. Such other rules or modifications as may be considered necessary for the proper conduct of this award shall be adopted by the Sound Editing Award Rules Committee, subject to the approval of the Academy Board of Governors.