Oscar overhauls membership, voting rules to promote diversity

The film academy is pledging to double the
number of female and minority members by 2020,
and will immediately diversify its leadership by
adding three new seats to its board of governors.
Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs
announced the changes on Friday, following a
weeklong storm of criticism and calls for an
Oscar boycott after academy members nominated
an all-white slate of actors for the second year in
a row.
'The Academy is going to lead and not wait for
the industry to catch up,' she said in a
statement.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences' 51-member board of governors
unanimously approved a series of reforms late
Thursday to 'begin the process of significantly
changing our membership composition,' Isaacs
said.

The number of minorities currently serving as
members of the academy has not been revealed.
“These new measures regarding governance
and voting will have an immediate impact
and begin the process of significantly
changing our membership composition.”
Beginning later this year, each new
member’s voting status will last 10 years,
and will be renewed if that new member
has been active in motion pictures during
that decade. In addition, members will
receive lifetime voting rights after three ten-
year terms; or if they have won or been
nominated for an Academy Award. We will
apply these same standards retroactively to
current members. In other words, if a
current member has not been active in the
last 10 years they can still qualify by
meeting the other criteria. Those who do
not qualify for active status will be moved
to emeritus status. Emeritus members do
not pay dues but enjoy all the privileges of
membership, except voting. This will not
affect voting for this year’s Oscars.
At the same time, the Academy will
supplement the traditional process in which
current members sponsor new members by
launching an ambitious, global campaign to
identify and recruit qualified new members
who represent greater diversity.
The decision was made at an emergency board
meeting Thursday night. Academy honchos,
including president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and CEO
Dawn Hudson, opted not to wait for the regularly
scheduled board meeting on Jan. 26. The
changes were announced Friday morning.
Also on Thursday, sources said the Academy met
with ABC officials and reps of Chris Rock,
confirming that he will host the Feb. 28
ceremony. Jada Pinkett Smith, Spike Lee and Will
Smith said they will not attend. Some other
activists had urged Rock to withdraw; he never
addressed those directly, but insiders said he
believes he can do more good by remaining, since
the Academy Awards reach a worldwide audience.
After worldwide media criticism over the Jan. 14
Oscar nominations, Academy officials knew they
had to make some bold moves, and make them
quickly. The image of the Oscars and the
Academy were tarnished when the all-Caucasian
lineup of 20 actors immediately led to bigger
questions about the lack of diversity within the
Academy — and ultimately within the industry.
The Academy has 17 branches; actors nominate
actors, editors nominate editors, and so on; the
entire eligible membership votes on final Oscars.
Four days after the Jan. 14 announcement of
nominations, Boone Isaacs issued a statement
saying there would be “dramatic steps to alter the
makeup of our membership.” She did not give
details at the time.