The Academy Making Historic Changes To Membership Makeup

After no African-Americans were nominated in any of the acting categories when the nominations for the 88th Oscars were announced on January 14, some in the film industry and press were outraged by the noticeable omissions. The perceived oversights of Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, and the cast of STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON were just too much to be overlooked.

Of note, this was the second year in a row that the nominees in the four major acting categories were all-white.

Boycotts to the ceremony have been reportedly called for by the Hollywood elite, as well as changes to the voting and the makeup of The Academy. Even the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite started trending.

People Magazine tweeted out this photo on Friday.

What’s changed? PEOPLE’s 1996 special report remains all too relevant https://t.co/PnBAcpfpNZ #OscarsSoWhite pic.twitter.com/OStL2TUkxD

— People Magazine (@people) January 22, 2016

In a historic move, The Academy took action and sent out the press release below.

In a unanimous vote Thursday night (1/21), the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved a sweeping series of substantive changes designed to make the Academy’s membership, its governing bodies, and its voting members significantly more diverse.  The Board’s goal is to commit to doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020.

“The Academy is going to lead and not wait for the industry to catch up,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “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.

In order to immediately increase diversity on the Board of Governors, the Academy will establish three new governor seats that will be nominated by the President for three-year terms and confirmed by the Board.

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. This will allow new members an opportunity to become more active in Academy decision-making and help the organization identify and nurture future leaders.

Along with Boone Isaacs, the Board’s Membership and Administration Committee, chaired by Academy Governor Phil Robinson, led the efforts to enact these initiatives.

The 88th Oscars take place on Sunday, February 28th and will be hosted by Chris Rock.