Academy

Doriane Pin has been crowned F1 Academy champion in Las Vegas.

The 21-year-old Frenchwoman, who needed to finish the final race of the season in the top six to secure the title, came home in fifth

Dutchwoman Maya Weug, the only person who could beat Pin, was third.

The all-female series saw a dramatic final race weekend with Weug crashing during the formation lap in the first reverse-grid race, which Prema Racing’s Pin won to extend her championship lead to 20 points.

Weug, who is in the Ferrari Driver Academy, gained two places on Pin in the final race but needed to win to have a chance of taking the title.

Mercedes protege Pin finished the season with 151 points, with Weug nine behind.

This was the first time the F1 Academy raced in Las Vegas and F1 has recently extended its contract with the series for next season.

Pin entered F1 Academy in 2024 but was beaten to the title last year by Britain’s Abbi Pulling.

American Chloe Chambers converted her pole position to a race win in the second race of the weekend.

F1 Academy started in 2023 to provide a stepping stone into motorsport for women and to widen the appeal of the sport in an attempt to increase the pool of female drivers.

CIF STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Santiago Canyon College, Orange

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

DIVISION V

Hilmar d. Elsinore, 26-24, 25-16, 25-19

DIVISION I

Harvard-Westlake d. Roseville Woodcreek, 25-22, 25-14, 25-17

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

DIVISION II

Clovis West (30-13) vs. Cypress (24-10), 11 a.m.

DIVISION III

Redwood City Sequoia (24-15-1) vs. Academy of Our Lady of Peace (21-11), 1:30 p.m.

DIVISION IV

Reedley Immanuel (26-16) vs. Capistrano Valley Christian (13-21-1), 4 p.m.

OPEN DIVISION

Rocklin (37-4) vs. Mater Dei (34-5), 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

SEMIFINALS

OPEN DIVISION

#1 Sierra Canyon d. #5 Marymount, 25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23

#2 Mater Dei d. #3 Torrey Pines, 25-23, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23

DIVISION I

#1 Harvard-Westlake d. #12 Bishop Montgomery, 22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 24-26, 15-8

#3 Santa Margarita d. #2 Temecula Valley, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23

DIVISION II

#1 Bakersfield Liberty d. #12 La Canada, 25-7, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18

#3 Cypress d. #7 Carlsbad, 23-25, 21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 15-10

DIVISION III

#1 Academy of Our Lady of Peace d. #4 Santa Fe Christian, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21

#3 Mission Vista d. #2 Bakersfield Frontier, 27-25, 25-21, 25-18

DIVISION IV

#12 Capistrano Valley Christian d. #1 Nipomo, 36-34, 25-23, 26-24

#2 Mammoth d. #3 Granada Hills, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 19-25, 15-10

DIVISION V

#4 Elsinore d. #8 Panorama, 25-14, 25-27, 25-11, 25-18

#2 Morro Bay d. #11 Nogales, 25-16, 25-18, 25-16

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Matches at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Regional Finals

OPEN DIVISION

#2 Mater Dei at #1 Sierra Canyon

DIVISION I

#3 Santa Margarita at #1 Harvard-Westlake

DIVISION II

#3 Cypress at #1 Bakersfield Liberty

DIVISION III

#3 Mission Vista at #1 Academy of Our Lady of Peace

DIVISION IV

#12 Capistrano Valley Christian at #2 Mammoth

DIVISION V

#4 Elsinore d. #2 Morro Bay

Note: State Championships on November 21-22 at Santiago Canyon College.

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

Quarterfinals

DIVISION I

#1 Harvard-Westlake d. #9 Long Beach Poly, 25-13, 21-25, 22-25, 25-11, 15-11

#12 Bishop Montgomery d. #4 West Ranch, 23-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-9

#3 Santa Margarita d. #6 Coronado, 25-21, 25-20, 25-17

#2 Temecula Valley d. #10 Bakersfield Centennial, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23

DIVISION II

#1 Liberty d. #9 Arroyo Valley, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20

#12 La Canada d. #13 Ventura, 17-25, 25-15, 25-21, 23-25, 15-10

#3 Cypress d. #6 Scripps Ranch, 20-25, 21-25, 25-15, 26-24, 15-13

#7 Carlsbad d. #15 Dana Hills, 25-14, 25-17, 22-25, 18-25, 15-13

DIVISION III

#1 Academy of Our Lady of Peace d. #8 Royal, 25-21, 25-11, 25-22

#4 Santa Fe Christian d. #5 Patrick Henry, 25-13, 25-7, 25-16

#3 Mission Vista d. #6 Ontario Christian, 25-19, 19-25, 25-13, 21-25, 15-7

#2 Frontier d. #7 Chadwick, 25-20, 25-18, 35-23

DIVISION IV

#1 Nipomo d. #8 Grant, 24-26, 25-22, 27-25, 25-21

#12 Capistrano Valley Christian d. #13 West Valley, 25-13, 25-12, 25-22

#3 Granada Hills d. #5 LA University, 25-23, 25-17, 25-22

#2 Mammoth d. #10 Rock Academy, 25-20, 25-12, 25-21

DIVISION V

#8 Panorama d. #1 East Valley, 25-23, 20-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12

#4 Elsinore d. #5 Artesia, 21-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-19

#11 Nogales d. #3 O’Farrell Charter, 3-2

#2 Morro Bay d. #10 South El Monte, 25-10, 25-21, 25-18

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

SEMIFINALS

(Matches at 6 p.m. unless noted)

OPEN DIVISION

#5 Marymount at #1 Sierra Canyon

#3 Torrey Pines at #2 Mater Dei

DIVISION I

#12 Bishop Montgomery at #1 Harvard-Westlake

#3 Santa Margarita at #2 Temecula Valley

DIVISION II

#12 La Canada at #1 Bakersfield Liberty

#7 Carlsbad at #3 Cypress

DIVISION III

#4 Santa Fe Christian at #1 Academy of Our Lady of Peace

#3 Mission Vista at #2 Bakersfield Frontier

DIVISION IV

#12 Capistrano Valley Christian at #1 Nipomo

#3 Granada Hills at #2 Mammoth

DIVISION V

#8 Panorama at #4 Elsinore

#11 Nogales at #2 Morro Bay

Note: Finals (all divisions) Nov. 18 at higher seeds.

CIF SOCAL REGIONALS

(Matches at 6 p.m. unless noted)

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

First Round

DIVISION I

#16 Santa Barbara San Marcos at #1 Harvard-Westlake

#9 Long Beach Poly at #8 San Luis Obispo

#12 Bishop Montgomery at #5 La Jolla Country Day

#13 Redlands at #4 West Ranch

#14 San Diego San Marcos at #3 Santa Margarita

#11 JSerra at #6 Coronado

#10 Bakersfield Centennial at #7 Bishop’s

#15 Orange Lutheran at #2 Temecula Valley

DIVISION II

#16 Oak Park at #1 Liberty

#9 Arroyo Grande at #8 Flintridge Prep

#12 La Canada at #5 Christian

#13 Ventura at #4 Santa Ana Foothill

#14 Venice at #3 Cypress

#11 St. Margaret’s at #6 Scripps Ranch

#10 Palisades at #7 Carlsbad

#15 Dana Hills at #2 Westview

DIVISION III

#16 Arrowhead Christian at #1 Academy of Our Lady of Peace

#9 Garces Memorial at #9 Royal

#12 Cleveland at #5 Patrick Henry

#13 El Camino Real at #4 Santa Fe Christian

#14 Taft at #3 Mission Vista

#11 Santa Barbara at #6 Ontario Christian

#10 Eagle Rock at #7 Chadwick

#15 Wiseburn Da Vinci at #2 Frontier

DIVISION IV

#1 Nipomo, bye

#8 Grant at #9 Oceanside El Camino

#12 Capistrano Valley Christian at #5 Chatsworth

#13 West Valley at #4 Olympian

#14 Cate at #3 Granada Hills

#11 Garden Grove Pacifica at #5 LA University

#10 Rock Academy at #7 Granada Hills Kennedy

#15 California Academy of Math & Science at #2 Mammoth

DIVISION V

#1 East Valley, bye

#9 Loma Linda Academy at #8 Panorama

#12 South East at #5 Artesia

#13 Legacy at #4 Elsinore

#14 Moreno Valley at #3 O’Farrell Charter

#11 Nogales at #6 Schurr

#10 South El Monte at #7 Foothill Tech

#15 Anaheim at #2 Morro Bay

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

First Round

OPEN DIVISION

#8 Mira Costa at #1 Sierra Canyon

#5 Marymount at #4 San Diego Cathedral

#6 San Juan Hills at #3 Torrey Pines

#7 Redondo Union at #2 Mater Dei

Note: Quarterfinals (Divisions I-V) Nov. 13 at higher seeds; Semifinals (all divisions) Nov. 15 at higher seeds; Finals (all divisions) Nov. 18 at higher seeds.

Ever since the ascent of BTS, the Grammys have been K-pop-curious, but not typically in its marquee categories. This year marks a notable change — several acts with roots in K-pop have major-category nominations, which suggests the Academy has embraced the genre as a staple part of pop music.

First off, while the success of “KPop Demon Hunters” and its flagship soundtrack single, “Golden,” might need a qualifier for being a piece of film music for a fictional band, the tune’s nomination for song is a milestone. It caps a huge year for the animated ladies of Huntr/x — they also scored nods in pop duo/group performance, remixed recording and song written for visual media. Whatever comes next for the human artists Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami and “Golden” co-songwriter Mark Sonnenblick, it’s part of a big moment for K-pop in the Grammys’ top categories.

They’re far from alone there, though. Rosé of Blackpink had a monster hit with Bruno Mars on “Apt.,” which scored even more Top 4 nods in record and song and pop duo/group performance. The snazzy Motown rocker was one of the year’s undeniable singles, hitting No. 3 on the Hot 100.

These nods showed just how far the Blackpink members’ solo careers can reach into the broader music and entertainment industries — including TV, major festivals, the Hot 100 and now the Grammys elite categories.

A K-pop act finally got a new artist nod as well, with the polyglot girl group Katseye landing alongside Addison Rae, Lola Young and Sombr. The band was conceived as a global twist on what constitutes as K-pop, given the members’ varied backgrounds (they hail from the United States, the Philippines, South Korea and Switzerland, and trained under BTS’ parent label, Hybe, in the United States).

“Beautiful Chaos” hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200, and the group’s “Gabriela” also got a nomination for pop duo/group performance, so the experiment clearly resonated with Academy voters on its own terms.

While Grammy voters have often looked upon K-pop as a fandom phenomenon more than a musical one, this year’s class suggests the genre has been taken on its own terms like any piece of pop, which can only bode well for its future at the Academy.

There’s a good chance that a horror movie will be nominated for the 2025 best picture Oscar.

And if Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” or Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” make the cut, it will be the first time in the Academy Awards’ 97-year history that a fright film has been nominated in consecutive contests.

It’s long overdue. And if you believe part of Oscars’ purpose is to promote the industry and celebrate its achievements, there’s no better time for the academy to get over its traditional disdain for cinematic monstrosities.

As most other sectors of Hollywood’s film business look precarious — adult dramas, the traditional awards season ponies, are dropping like dead horses at the box office, while attendance for the once-mighty superhero supergenre continues to disappoint — horror has hit its highest annual gross of all time, $1.2 billion, with a good two months left to go.

“Sinners,” released in April, remains in fifth place on the domestic box office chart with $279 million. Its fellow Warner Bros. offerings “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” “Weapons” and “Final Destination: Bloodlines” occupied slots 12 through 14 as of mid-October.

Mia Goth as Elizabeth and Oscar Isaac in “Frankenstein.”

(Ken Woroner / Netflix)

“Horror has been, historically, the Rodney Dangerfield of genres,” notes Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for global media measurement firm Comscore. “It can’t get no respect.

“But horror is very important to the industry on so many levels now,” he continues. “We have four horror movies in the top 15 this year, all of those generating over $100 million in domestic box office. And to make a significant scary horror movie, you don’t have to break the bank. Look at [‘Weapons’ filmmaker Zach Cregger’s 2022 breakout feature] ‘Barbarian’; half of that was shot in a basement.” Similarly, compare “Sinners’” $90 million price tag to “Black Panther’s” $200 million.

Horror’s popularity has gone in cycles since Universal’s run of classic monster movies in the early 1930s. But profitability has been a reliable bet more often than not — and Karloff’s “Frankenstein” and Lugosi’s “Dracula” still resonate through pop culture while most best picture winners of the same era are forgotten.

Still, it wasn’t until 1974 that “The Exorcist” received the first best picture nomination for a horror film, and ahead of the success of “The Substance” at the 2025 Oscar nominations the genre’s fortunes had only marginally improved. Indeed, many of the titles usually cited as a mark of horror’s growing foothold in awards season — “Jaws,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Black Swan,” 1991 winner “The Silence of the Lambs” — are arguably better characterized as something else entirely, or at best as hybrids. (To wit, the sole monster movie that’s won best picture, Del Toro’s 2017 “The Shape of Water,” is primarily considered a romantic fantasy.)

Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners.”

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Fright films’ reputation for delivering cheap thrills to undiscerning audiences was often deserved, but there were always stellar horror films that the academy overlooked. And more recently, films such as “The Substance,” “Sinners” and Jordan Peele’s 2017 nominee “Get Out” have pierced ingrained voter prejudices against the genre by adding social commentary and undeniable aesthetic quality without compromising gory fundamentals.

“The horror genre really does seem to be attracting great directors who are immersed in it, have a real auteur point-of-view and make interesting movies that have horror elements but explore other themes as well,” notes The Envelope’s awards columnist, Glenn Whipp. “‘Sinners’ is Ryan Coogler’s vampire movie, but it’s also about the Jim Crow South and American blues music. How can you resist that if you’re an academy voter?”

And with horror packing in filmgoers like no other genre, high-profile nominations could help the Academy Awards broadcast attract the bigger ratings its stakeholders have been desperately seeking at least since “The Dark Knight” failed to make the best picture cut in 2008.

Austin Abrams in “Weapons.”

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

“That was the whole reason we went to 10 potential nominees,” Dergarabedian recalls. “We wanted to have more blockbuster representation at the Oscars. This may be the perfect storm. If I were an academy voter, I would vote for ‘Sinners’ and ‘Weapons.’ I don’t think that’s an overstatement, given the films that have come out this year.”

Even beyond this “perfect storm,” though, Whipp sees a sea change afoot.

“Everything’s an Oscar movie now if it’s well made,” he says. “Studios aren’t really making traditional, grown-up dramas and the academy can only nominate what’s in front of them. Horror is being produced at a rate that is greater than it used to be, and at least two of these Warner movies really landed with audiences and critics. The genre is attracting some of our top filmmakers right now, and that’s something that will trickle down to the Oscars.”

“This is not a blip,” Dergarabedian concludes. “It’s a trend that feels like it’s happened overnight but it’s been a long time coming. Back in 2017 we had our first $1-billion-plus horror movie box office. If they stop making good horror movies it might be a blip, but I think Hollywood should take this and bloody run with it.”