Even by the accident-prone standards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas), the reaction against the plan to relegate four awards presentations to commercial breaks during the live Oscars telecast has been vociferous and damning.

Academy president John Bailey had announced the move as part of its attempt to shorten the TV show’s notoriously sprawling running time, under pressure from host network ABC. In the first of what is planned as a rotating series of relegations, the Oscars for cinematography, editing, live action short, and makeup and hair will be handed out during ad breaks (though shown on the live stream on the Oscars website) with acceptance speeches edited in to the broadcast.

However, entertainment industry figures have been reacting with dismay. Actor Russell Crowe called it “a fundamentally stupid decision … just too fucking dumb for words”, while Exorcist director William Friedkin described it as “an insult to award two of the most essential qualities of film-making”.

Roma director Alfonso Cuarón, who is personally nominated for best cinematography as well as best director, best original screenplay and best picture, pointedly wrote on Twitter that: “No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing”, while Guillermo del Toro, winner of the best director Oscar in 2018 for The Shape of Water, wrote: “I would not presume to suggest what categories should occur during commercials on Oscars night, but, please: Cinematography & Editing are at the very heart of our craft.”

Gareth Ellis-Unwin, an Oscar-winner for best picture for The King’s Speech and head of film and animation for the skills charity ScreenSkills, said he would not vote in the final round of Oscar voting (due to close on 19 February) as a protest, adding: “It is a damaging move not to recognise some of the roles that are critical to the filmmaking process. Cinematography, editing and make-up and hair are vital … If we want to continue to recruit new talent into the industry, it is important to showcase all the opportunities available and not just the starry ones.”

In its quest to halt the slump in ratings for its flagship TV show, the Academy has already been forced to backtrack repeatedly. Its choice for host, Kevin Hart, became untenable after homophobic tweets resurfaced, a proposal for a best popular film Oscar was dropped after widespread ridicule, a plan to drop performances of three of the five Oscar-nominated songs had to be cancelled, and a suggestion that presentations by last year’s acting winners be ditched in favour of more attention-grabbing names was swiftly reversed.