One of Hollywood’s most influential magazines is putting diversity in the spotlight after no minority actors received Oscar nominations for a second year in a row.
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Members who are active in the film industry will have their voting rights renewed for another 10-year term.
Goldberg’s response on Oscars boycott came after Jada Pinkett Smith’s announcement to not attend the 2016 ceremony.
We want the Oscars to be voted on by people who are now working in motion pictures, or who have been active for a long time.
In a public posting on the Oscars website, The Academy released the new qualifications for membership, and the changes that would help create a more diverse set of voters. That’s only a twelve-year period, but you have worked in the three [non-consecutive] ten-year terms of your membership, so you’d qualify as an active member with voting status.
Following an impassioned speech on how there is “no place for black movies”, she said: “Chris Rock is the host of the Academy Awards and so to boycott him seems just as bad as what everybody is saying”. We will apply these same standards retroactively to current members.
Speaking on United States talk show “The View”, she added: “You need directors and producers who will say, ‘Hey, what about so and so?'” (It’s impossible for anyone to see all of them.) The blue ribbon committee members would have a voting day in which they would debate, cajole and argue the cases for various films.
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Those who don’t qualify as active will be moved to emeritus status, which includes “all the benefits of membership except voting”, per the FAQ. (Note: I volunteer!) Each committee would consist of an equal distribution of members who have been in AMPAS for up to 10 years, up to 20 years, up to 30 years and then over that. “That’s what’s going to make the change”. Voting for the Oscars is a privilege of membership, not a right. There are a number of Academy members, however, who had brief careers and left the business. We still haven’t seen an implementation to change right now. These three seats will be filled by women and people of color, and the changes will take place in February.
