President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the first African-American to lead the organization, made the announcement after critics had hit the academy since it released the list of nominees a week earlier.
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How many new female or minority members the academy would need to enlist to meet its goal, and how many older members stand to lose their voting privileges was not immediately clear.
On Friday, the Academy announced lifetime voting statuses for members will last 10 years and will only be renewed if the members are active in films during that decade.
The same standards will apply retroactively to current members, meaning those who have been inactive in film during the past 10 years would have to either be nominated for an Oscar or win one to qualify, the academy statement said.
This time, the academy is trying not just to reform itself, but to spur all of the movie industry to greater diversity. Calls voiced FROM THE STAGE. “Deaf ears. Closed minds”.
Addressing diversity on the board of governors: The academy will establish three new governor seats that will be nominated by the president.
“At the same time, we’re commending the Academy for putting measures that will hopefully turn this thing around”, Lee added.
“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.
The landmark decision comes after a number of Hollywood celebrities criticised the Academy for failing to recognise people of colour in four of its acting categories for the second consecutive year. White actors, including George Clooney and Mark Ruffalo, weighed in with tepid support of the cause but not the boycott.
The new changes came with positive replies from Ava DuVernay and Lupita Nyong’o.
However, Hollywood seems to be divided on the diversity debate with some celebrities criticising the appeal for quota, saying the awards should be given only on merit. “There is no way for him to seize the moment… and say, “I’m going to say this and say that I’m going to address the issue but then I’m still going to keep my gig as the host”, Gibson told USA Today. However, they are also important instruments for assessing industry trends and providing a higher profile for smaller, independent films-just ask the crowds who will be heading to see “Room” and “Brooklyn” in the coming weeks. ‘You can never know for sure, but maybe black actors did not deserve to be in the final selection, ‘ Rampling told Europe 1 radio, speaking in French.
The Academy has 17 branches; actors nominate actors, editors nominate editors, and so on; the entire eligible membership votes on final Oscars.
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Apparently, however, academy voters were not overly impressed with the work turned in by the likes of Will Smith in “Concussion”, Michael B. Jordan in “Creed”, Samuel L. Jackson in “The Hateful Eight” and Idris Elba in “Beasts of No Nation”.
