The board said its goal was to double the number of female and minority members by 2020.
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New York Times report also adds that Academy President Cheryl Boone-Isaacs and the Academy’s chief executive, Dawn Hudson, may call for voting restrictions, which would deny Academy members who haven’t been active in the film industry for a lengthy period of time, between 10 and 20 years, the right to vote. The session ended with a unanimous vote to endorse the new processes, but action on possible changes to Oscar balloting was deferred for later consideration.
For the second year in a row, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has found itself under fire for not nominating any black actors. Actors Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith, as well as director Spike Lee and documentary film-maker Michael Moore, said they would not be attending the awards in light of the lack of recognition of black artists.
The new rules will begin later this year, and each new member’s voting status will now last 10 years, and will be renewed only if the new member has been active in film during the previous decade.
“I think it’s going to affect every single level, whether it’s in front of the camera or behind the camera or in the studio suite”, she said. We will apply these same standards retroactively to current members.
But on Thursday night (21Jan16) decision-makers at the Academy voted to amplify minority representation at their awards show.
The backlash has prompted further examination throughout Hollywood about the diversity of its movies and the fairness of the awards it bestows on its best performances and films.
To immediately increase diversity there, three new governor seats will be nominated by Boone Isaacs and confirmed by the existing board.
The changes not only expand diversity of future membership, but change the demographic of current members.
In its statement on Friday, the Academy said those members who are moved to emeritus status because they have not met the new activity criteria would not pay dues, but would continue to enjoy the privileges of membership other than voting.
The changes also involve “an ambitious, global campaign to identify and recruit qualified new members who represent greater diversity”, according to an Academy press release issued on Friday.
In an interview on French radio station Europe 1, Rampling said the uproar was “racist to white people”.
“Maybe the black actors didn’t deserve to be in the final stretch”. “There are a lot of old has-beens in their ranks”, said Tom O’Neil, editor of the awards-watching website Gold Derby.
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When asked if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should start using quotas to select nominees, she responded: “Why classify people?” While Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and the group’s CEO Dawn Hudson have been working to improve diversity representation within the Academy for the past several years, Boone Isaacs admitted in a previous statement on January 18, “the change is not coming as fast as we would like” and vowed, “it’s time for big changes”.
