In the past, shortlist voting for some categories began as early as October, while shortlists themselves were released on different dates in December. This year, voting for all shortlists will happen during the first two weeks of December, leading to a simultaneous announcement of all the short list contenders on Monday, December 17.

Last year, the 10 finalists for best animated short were announced on Dec. 4, while the vfx branch offered two shortlists— the first reduces the field of contenders down to 20, and was announced last year on Dec. 4, and the second narrows the list down to ten.

This is also the first year in which there will be shortlists for best original score and best original song, each with 15 titles. In addition, the entire Oscar voting process will take place exclusively online, instead of paper ballots.

For more info, visit www.oscars.org

Source: The Hollywood Reporter