With the growing uproar over the lack of diversity at the Oscars this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was forced to announce sweeping changes in the nomination process.
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In its statement the Academy also said that the Board was committing to doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020.
Current members can still sponsor new ones, but voting rights will only last for 10 years and members can only retain them after that if they’ve remained active in the industry during that decade.
–Those who do not qualify for active status will be moved to emeritus status, which means they enjoy the privileges of membership, such as access to screenings and events, but can not vote on the Oscars.
The academy’s Board of Governors, constituted by 51 members, unanimously adopted the membership rule reforms on Thursday night, but the changes will not affect voting this year’s awards.
The academy says it wants to lead by example in efforts to make the movie industry more representative. The board passed a series of measures to remove from its voting rolls members who have not been active in the film industry for many years, and establish a precedent requiring active engagement in the industry for new members.
The Academy has been struggling to promote diversity since previous year when lack of diversity became a concerning issue.
The Academy will also take immediate action to increase diversity by adding new members who are not Governors to its executive and board committees where key decisions about membership and governance are made. Previously, lifetime voting rights were given to all members of the Academy.
Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs promised “big changes” in a statement released on January 18th, writing, “Change is not coming as fast as we would like”.
“I’m squarely in what I would call the mentorship phase of my life”, said Sam Weisman, a member of the academy’s directors’ branch since 1998.
“But, how is it possible for the 2nd consecutive year all 20 contenders under the actor category are white?”
The Academy’s action is arriving in the midst of weeks of sustained, widespread criticism regarding its recently announced 2016 nominations.
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Ava DuVernay, director of last year’s best-picture nominee “Selma“, called the academy’s announcement “one good step in a long complicated journey for people of colour and women artists”.
“If the academy is going to double that number, that’s a huge leap up”, said O’Neil.
Here are some reactions to the academy’s announcement, followed by some highlights on the broader diversity question. Academy voting rights rank among Hollywood’s more coveted marks of status, not least because of the screening invitations and flattering attention that come with them.
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Over the course of the week since the nominations, various performers have weighed in on the debate, including Viola Davis, who said the problem is not with the Academy, but the studios that make decisions about which films to make.
