News Awards & Events Oscars You Won't Be Seeing Stars in Their Hoodies at the Oscars The 2021 ceremony has a strict "no Zoom" policy and a dress code. By Tessa Petak Tessa Petak Instagram Tessa Petak is a Brooklyn-based writer who helps to cultivate InStyle's illustrious news coverage across a wide range of topics including celebrity, fashion, and entertainment. She also produces and composes celebrity profiles and features for the site and InStyle's digital issues. InStyle's editorial guidelines Published on March 19, 2021 @ 09:15AM Pin Share Tweet Email The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has set some rules for the 2021 Oscars ceremony — including no Zooming in for nominees. Nominees received a letter from the Academy on Thursday revealing that they must be in attendance and there will be no option to Zoom in during the show. "For those of you unable to attend because of scheduling or continued uneasiness about traveling, we want you to know there will not be an option to Zoom in for the show," the show's producers Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher, and Jesse Collins wrote in the letter. "We are going to great lengths to provide a safe and ENJOYABLE evening for all of you in person, as well as for all the millions of film fans around the world, and we feel the virtual thing will diminish those efforts," the letter continued. If a nominee is unable to attend, then the Academy will accept the award on behalf of it. The show has set a strict protocol to maintain safety by "treating the event as an active movie set, with specially designed testing cadences to ensure up-to-the-minute results, including an on-site COVID safety team with PCR testing capability." The protocol also included instructions for those who will be traveling to L.A. for the special night. Getty Images The theme of the awards show, which will be "Stories Matter," was also revealed in the letter. Producers are asking the talent to partake in little interviews where each will share their personal story. See the Full List of 2021 Oscar Nominations The letter additionally touched on dress code — something that prior to this weird year of virtual awards shows probably didn't need to be spelled out. But given some of the more casual wear seen at a few of the shows (*cough cough* Jason Sudeikis at the Globes), the Academy decided to include a dress code. "We're aiming for a fusion of Inspirational and Aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not." OK, but don't worry, Jason, we loved the sweatshirt. The 93rd Academy Awards will air live on Sunday, April 25 at 8 p.m.ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC.