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Last night, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) labor union celebrated the silver anniversary of its awards show and gave out 15 acting awards across film (6 awards) and television (9 awards). Tonight’s winners and losers have plenty of implications for the upcoming Oscar and Emmy ceremonies and, as usual, it was a fast-paced, star-studded ceremony brimming with sentiment.
Why Do the SAG Awards Matter?
Despite the fact that it has only been around a fraction of the time that the other major awards shows have, the SAG Awards have developed into one of the most important nights of awards season. This is likely due to two factors. First, given that every single award goes to actors, it is a star-studded affair that usually makes for fairly painless viewing and hot red carpet action. Second, and more importantly, it is the only awards-granting body that gives out high-profile acting awards during awards season that shares significant membership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which doles out the Oscars. Due to this overlap in membership and the SAG Awards strategic ceremony date that is positioned right before Oscar voting begins, it has earned a name for itself as the single best predictor of the eventual acting Oscar winners among all the award shows.
