Oscars organizers invite new members in diversity push

Organizers of the Oscars, facing an outcry over the lack of diversity on its voting board for the film awards, said on Wednesday it has invited nearly 700 new members with a focus on female and minority talent.

Actors Idris Elba, America Ferrera, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Eva Mendes and this year's Best Actress Oscar winner Brie Larson were among the 683 potential new members, the academy said in a statement.

Forty-six percent of those invited are female and 41 percent are people of color, aged 24 to 91, said the organization, whose members also include directors, producers, cinematographers and composers.

"This class continues our long-term commitment to welcoming extraordinary talent reflective of those working in film today," Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in the statement.

"We encourage the larger creative community to open its doors wider, and create opportunities for anyone interested in working in this incredible and storied industry."

All 20 acting Oscar nominees this year were white for a second consecutive year, prompting criticism with the online hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. Oscars host Chris Rock provided biting commentary during the awards show, which was boycotted by director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith.

The largely white, male and older roster of film industry professionals who belong to the academy has long been cited as a barrier to racial and gender equality at the Oscars.

The organization responded by announcing a sweeping affirmative action program, pledging to double female and minority membership by 2020.

The potential new members would boost the academy's female roster to 27 percent from 25 percent last year, it said. People of color would make up 11 percent of the total voting body, up from 8 percent in 2015.

If all 683 invited professionals join, the academy would have 7,789 members, it added.

The academy has also introduced new membership rules to help diversify its makeup by stripping some older members of voting privileges.

Under the new rules, lifetime voting rights would be conferred only on academy members who remain active in the film industry over three 10-year terms, or have won or been nominated for an Oscar.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Richard Chang)

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Academy vows to double women, minority members by 2020

LOS ANGELES, United States - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday promised sweeping reforms designed to help diversify its membership in the face of a major controversy over the second straight year of all-white Oscar acting nominations.

The Academy's board said it was taking "historic action" to double the number of women and minority members by 2020 and launch a global effort to "recruit qualified new members who represent greater diversity."

"These new measures regarding governance and voting will have an immediate impact and begin the process of significantly changing our membership composition," said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

The changes were approved in a unanimous vote by the Academy's board of governors on Thursday, following days of criticism that for a second year in a row, all 20 actors nominated for Oscars were white.

Acclaimed director Spike Lee, who won an Oscar last year honoring his lifetime achievements, wrote an open letter to the Academy decrying the "lily white" nominations.

Mega-star Will Smith -- one of the black actors seen as having been passed over for a nomination this year -- and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith followed Lee in announcing that they too would stay away from the ceremony on February 28.

On Friday, British actress Charlotte Rampling -- nominated for best actress for "45 Years" -- waded into the row by saying Lee had been "racist to whites" in his criticism.

"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 announced that beginning later this year -- not affecting votes for the 2016 Oscars -- each new member's voting status will last 10 years, and be renewed if they have been active in movies during that time.

Members will get lifetime voting rights after three 10-year terms, or if they win or are nominated for an Academy Award. The same standards will apply retroactively to current members.

Those who do not qualify for active status will not be able to vote.

To increase diversity on the board of governors immediately, the Academy said it would establish three new governor seats that will be nominated by the president for three-year terms and confirmed by the board.

It will also involve new members on decisions about membership and governance, giving them a chance to become more active in decision-making and to help spot and nurture future leaders.

- 'Good step' -

The announcement was quickly welcomed by Ava DuVernay, director of civil rights movie "Selma," which was nominated for best picture last year -- but not for best director or actor.

"One good step in a long, complicated journey for people of color + women artists," she wrote on Twitter.

Tom O'Neil, founder of awards prediction site goldderby.com, told AFP it was a "dramatic first step" but urged caution on the numbers.

The Academy currently has 6,261 voting members, all of whom work in the film industry.

According to a 2012 study by the Los Angeles Times, nearly 94 percent of the Academy voters are white and 77 percent male. Twenty-three percent are women.

"If the academy is going to double that number, that's a huge leap up," said O'Neil. The Times study found blacks make up two percent of the Academy and Latinos less than two percent.

But O'Neil added: "Is it enough (to double up?) -- these numbers are so small."

In his open letter on Monday, Lee suggested that studios adopt a system akin to that used by the National Football League, which requires that minorities be interviewed when coach or executive positions open up.

Hollywood A-lister George Clooney, himself an Oscar winner, has said the problem is the lack of options available to minorities in quality films.

Smith, whose role in NFL drama "Concussion" was overlooked this year, announced Thursday that he would follow his wife in not attending the ceremony.

"There is a position that we hold in this community, and if we're not part of the solution, we're part of the problem," he told ABC's "Good Morning America" show.

"It was her call to action, for herself, and for me and for our family to be a part of the solution," added the two-time Oscar nominee for his roles in "Ali" and "The Pursuit of Happyness."

"There is a regressive slide towards separatism, towards racial and religious disharmony and that's not the Hollywood that I want to leave behind," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Birdman' soars to Oscar heights on best picture win

LOS ANGELES -- The dark comedy "Birdman" held up a mirror to Hollywood and its struggling actors and received in return the film industry's highest recognition on Sunday, the Academy Award for best picture.

Director Alejandro G. Inarritu's story of a washed-up, former superhero actor attempting an improbable comeback on Broadway won four Oscars, including best director, the second consecutive win in that category for a Mexican filmmaker.

Inarritu thanked the star-studded audience for seeing his "crazy film."

The reward for the satire hews to an Academy tradition of awarding films that honor the entertainment industry, such as "Argo" and "The Artist" in recent years.

Eddie Redmayne won best actor with his painstaking portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," robbing "Birdman" lead and former superhero actor Michael Keaton of a big comeback moment.

Each of the eight best picture nominees went home with at least one award, but it was a disappointing night for "Boyhood," Richard Linklater's unprecedented endeavor to depict the simple story of a boy growing up over 12 years, all with the same actors. It won one Oscar for its six nods.

Wes Anderson's colorful caper, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" proved popular among the 6,100 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who vote for the Oscars, winning four awards on its nine nominations.

"Whiplash," the independent film about an aspiring jazz drummer and his tough mentor from young director Damien Chazelle, won three Oscars.

It was a night in which the controversy over the lack of diversity among this year's nominees was front and center. First-time host Neil Patrick Harris opened the telecast with a quip: "Tonight we honor Hollywood's best and whitest, I mean brightest."

But the race theme resonated in a more serious way too, when Common and John Legend got a standing ovation and made many in the audience cry with their performance of "Glory" from the 1960s civil rights drama "Selma."

It won best song, delivering the sole victory to "Selma," the film at the center of the diversity debate, sparked by the exclusion of ethnic minority actors from the four acting categories. The nominations sparked the Twitter hashtag "#OscarsSoWhite.

"'Selma' is now, because the struggle for justice is right now," said Legend in the aftermath of recent racially charged protests in America.

Moore, Arquette prevail

The Academy rewarded heavy favorites and veterans with their first Oscars in the three other acting races.

Five-time nominee Julianne Moore won best actress for her portrayal of a woman suffering from early onset Alzheimer's in "Still Alice."

Patricia Arquette won best supporting actress for her role as a struggling single mother in "Boyhood," while J.K. Simmons won the best supporting actor as a monstrous music teacher in "Whiplash."

For the biggest televised event outside the sports world, the Academy aimed to attract young viewers who may not care much about the films but who could tune in for the musical acts.

A bridge between the young and old, pop diva Lady Gaga received a standing ovation for her medley of tunes from "The Sound of Music" before introducing that film's star, Julie Andrews.

Poland's "Ida" clinched best foreign-language film and director Pawel Pawlikowski pushed the 45-second acceptance speech boundary to thank "my Polish friends who are in front of the TV, the crew who were in the trenches with us and who are totally drunk now, and you were fantastic."

Best documentary went to "Citizenfour," director Laura Poitras' feature about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who detailed the secret mass surveillance programs.

"The subject of 'Citizenfour,' Edward Snowden, could not be here for some treason," joked Harris.

Full list of winners

Following is a list of winners in leading categories.

BEST PICTURE
"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"

BEST ACTOR
Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"

BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro G. Inarritu, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of
Ignorance)"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Graham Moore, "The Imitation Game"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris
Jr., Armando Bo, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of
Ignorance)"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Ida" (Poland)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Big Hero 6"

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"CitizenFour"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Glory," from "Selma"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Milena Canonero, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of
Ignorance)"

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"Interstellar"

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Lady Gaga in moving 'Sound of Music' Oscars tribute

HOLLYWOOD -- The Academy Awards hailed the 50th anniversary of its all-time greatest musical Sunday, recruiting Lady Gaga to gracefully sing a medley of memorable tunes from "The Sound of Music."

Starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, the cinematic tale of the musical von Trapp family in Austria and their mischievous governess is a Hollywood classic.

In contrast to her own flamboyant concerts, Lady Gaga was all about the voice as she sang highlights from the beloved 1965 movie to the accompaniment of a string combo and a choir.



She then gave way to Andrews, 79, to announce the winner of the Oscar for best original score -- Alexandre Desplat, for "The Grand Budapest Hotel."

"Dear Lady Gaga, thank you for that wonderful tribute. Oh my god, it really warmed my heart," said the British-born thespian.

Looking back at the making of "The Sound of Music," Andrews said it was "really hard to believe" that a half-century had passed. "I blinked, and suddenly here I am," she said.

Those involved in making the picture, she said, "all really felt blessed to have been a part of it. As for me, how lucky can a girl get?"

"It's a very special tribute performance," Gaga -- wearing a white Azzedine Alaia gown -- told ABC television earlier Sunday.

"I really put my heart into preparing for it," said the 28-year-old singer-songwriter.

"The Sound of Music" collected five Oscars in 1965, including best picture and best director.

Andrews was nominated for best actress, an honor she won the year before for "Mary Poppins," only to lose to Julie Christie in "Darling."

Directed by Robert Wise, "The Sound of Music" brought to the silver screen the eponymous 1959 hit Broadway musical.

Several of its Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein songs -- like "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi" and the title track -- are enduring classics.

Based on Maria von Trapp's published memoirs, the film -- largely fictionalized, as Wise duly warned the family in advance -- remains the highest grossing musical of all time.

The von Trapps left Austria soon after its annexation by Nazi Germany, eventually settling in the US state of Vermont, where they opened an Alpine resort that remains in family hands.

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Neil Patrick Harris salutes movies, pokes Oscars on race

LOS ANGELES -- First-time Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris opened Hollywood's biggest night of the year on Sunday with a fleeting but pointed jibe at the homogenous field of Academy Award nominees, before launching into a spirited musical salute to the magic of movies.

"Tonight we honor Hollywood's best and whitest, sorry, brightest," Harris enthusiastically dead-panned to hearty laughter that seemed to break the usual pre-show jitters among the movie royalty packing the auditorium of the Dolby Theater.

The opening joke was a reference to the criticism Oscar voters faced this year for failing to nominate a single performer of color in any of the acting categories for the first time in many years.

Without wasting another moment, Harris, 41, segued into an opening song-and-dance tribute to the movies, showing off his chops as a live comedy-musical performer, and a conscious effort of Oscar producers to connect with tech-savvy younger television viewers.

"Check out the glamor, and glitter/people tweeting on the twitter, and no one's drunk and bitter yet/because no one has lost," he sang.

Before the number and the on-screen explosion of computer-graphic imagery of film classics had ended, Harris was joined by actress Anna Kendrick, a star of last year's fairy-tale film musical "Into the Woods," and then by Jack Black, leaping onto stage from the audience to play an angry contrarian before being driven away again by Kendrick's hurled shoe.

The performance ended with wild applause, as Harris notes a great paradox of the Oscar -- that few of the most honored movies at the Academy Awards are blockbuster successes.

One notable exception this year, as Harris pointed out, was "American Sniper," which alone grossed at least half of the box office earned by the seven other best picture nominees combined.

"To put that into perspective, everybody on this side of the aisle is the seven other nominees, and 'American Sniper' is Oprah," he said, adding as the camera cut to a perplexed Oprah Winfrey, "Because you're rich."

In one of his zanier escapades, and an homage to a memorable scene from Oscar front-runner "Birdman," Harris ventured from backstage to the show's main stage, followed by a camera, dressed only in his underpants, shoes and socks to introduce presenters of the sound-mixing award, with the words: "Acting is a noble profession."

Harris, who previously has won three Emmys for hosting Broadway's Tony Awards, was recruited by Oscar producers as a hoped-for bridge between older movie fans and younger viewers that the Academy Awards have been desperate to attract in greater numbers.

Harris has a young following himself as a star of the hit CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother."

One obvious sign of the outreach to younger viewers came in a musical performance of the pop duo Tegan and Sara teaming up with former "Saturday Night Live" star Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island trio for a rendering of the kids favorite "Everything Is Awesome."

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Hollywood prepares for its Oscars close-up

LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood is preparing for its Oscars close-up Sunday, as Tinseltown's annual awards season comes to its climax with two films expected to face off for the top prize.

Dark comedy "Birdman" is vying with coming-of-age drama "Boyhood" for best picture at the Oscars, although a late surge by "American Sniper" could yet cause an upset.

Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette and Britain's Eddie Redmayne are among those widely tipped to take home acting prizes during the show, hosted by song-and-dance man Neil Patrick Harris.

On the eve of the Oscars, "Birdman" got a new boost Saturday, taking best film at the Independent Spirit awards as well as best actor for Michael Keaton, while "Boyhood" took best director for Richard Linklater.

But the race for the biggest prize of the night Sunday remains too close to call, with less than 24 hours to go.

"Birdman," a fanciful yet dark tale of a washed-up superhero actor battling to revive his career on Broadway, has swept a string of prizes ahead of the Oscars including top prizes from the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America.

But Linklater's "Boyhood" -- which was made over the course of 12 years with the same actors aging with their characters -- scooped up the biggest awards at last month's Golden Globes, as well as Britain's BAFTAs.

Some have even suggested that Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" could sneak up on the inside as a dark horse, boosted by the film's box office success as the highest-grossing war movie of all time.

Ballots cast

When nominations were announced last month, "Birdman" shared the most nods with Wes Anderson's stylish crime caper "The Grand Budapest Hotel," at nine each, followed by World War II thriller "The Imitation Game" with eight. "Boyhood" followed with six.

That fired the starting gun on the frenzied final weeks of frantic schmoozing and self-publicizing that defines Hollywood's awards season, which gains momentum until the star-studded Oscars night.

While the best picture race is on a knife-edge, several of the other key categories are seen as much easier to predict.

Veteran star Moore is almost universally expected to win best actress for playing a linguistics professor suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's Disease in "Still Alice."

Arquette is the favorite for best supporting actress as the single mother raising two kids in "Boyhood," while J.K. Simmons is widely expected to win best supporting actor honors for jazz drama "Whiplash."

The best actor race is still seen as up for grabs -- a two-man contest between Redmayne -- as astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything" -- and "Birdman" star Michael Keaton.

Best picture/director split?
For best director, the frontrunners are Linklater and Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the creative force behind "Birdman."

This has led to speculation that the best picture and best director prizes could be shared, as they were last year when Mexican Alfonso Cuaron won best director for "Gravity," while the best picture Oscar went to "12 Years A Slave."

A star-studded cast of presenters will hand out the prizes at Sunday's show, including Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson, Nicole Kidman, Eddie Murphy, Liam Neeson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey.

The show, which starts at 5:30 p.m. (Monday morning in Manila), will be preceded by the traditional red carpet parade, featuring a bevy of stars kitted out in their formal finest.

One unwelcome guest could be rain -- forecasts say there is a 60 percent chance of what is a rare LA phenomenon. Last year, a last-minute freak storm forced organizers to scramble to make sure it didn't rain on the party.

They will be hoping the clouds hold off for as long as possible.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How Oscars number-crunchers keep winners secret

LOS ANGELES, United States - By day, they are accountants with global consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. But from Friday, for two days only, they become keepers of one of the most closely-guarded secrets in the world.

Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz will be the only people who know the winners of the coveted golden Oscar statuettes, cinema's most prestigious prizes.

They are the people who tally up the votes of the 6,100-odd members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), who choose the Oscar winners.

"We print everything" for fear of possible leaks or online hacking, Cullinan told AFP, explaining how the voting process has been revolutionized over the last few years.

"For 84 years, (it) was only done by paper. Over the last three years, they have allowed members to vote electronically, with a password. An increasing number, the majority, now vote electronically," he said.

The pair have a team of five or six people to help. But they make absolutely sure that no single person counts all the votes in a category, to ensure nobody but them knows any of the winners, said Ruiz.

There are 24 categories, and over 6,000 votes to be counted by hand. That's a lot of counting. The vote ended Tuesday evening. They hope to have the results collated by Friday evening, said Cullinan.

- Results tied six times -

Most categories -- best actor, actress, best song, et cetera -- are decided simply by counting the votes and seeing who gets the most.

On six occasions over the decades, there has been a tie, in which case two statuettes are handed out. The last time that happened was in 2013, for best sound editing.

For best picture, it is more complicated: the winner has to get 50 percent of votes plus one.

To achieve this, voters have to rank their favorites from the eight nominated movies. The first-choice votes are then counted, and if none gets 50 percent, then the film with the least votes is dropped and its votes redistributed to the other seven, based on the second choice.

The process continues until one film gets the crucial amount, the idea being that the winning movie enjoys a consensus of support, rather than say just getting 20 percent but beating the others.

Security is, needless to say, a key concern.

Both Cullinan and Ruiz each get a set of 24 envelopes with category names pre-printed, together with 24 cards. But they fill in the winning names by hand before sealing them.

As a double fail-safe, each of them memorizes the category winners by heart, just in case. Nobody apart from the two of them knows the results.

From the moment that the results are finalized, and a set of envelopes is placed in each of two briefcases, both of them are escorted by armed guards until the start of the ceremony Sunday evening.

They also split up, in case one of them is unable for some reason to get to the Dolby Theatre in time when the curtain goes up at 5:30 pm (0130 GMT Monday).

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Nyong'o, Pharrell Williams among new Academy members

LOS ANGELES - Kenyan Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, Somalia's Barkhad Abdi, "Happy" songster Pharrell Williams and Irish-German star Michael Fassbender are among 271 actors newly invited to join Hollywood's Oscar-bestowing Academy, organizers said Thursday.

Other non-US invitees include Britain's Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan, as well as Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and Israeli-born Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad.

Italy's Paolo Sorrentino, whose "The Great Beauty" won this year's foreign-language Oscar, will also join the illustrious Hollywood body, as will Canadian "Dallas Buyers Club" director Jean-Marc Vallee.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invites a new batch of actors, filmmakers and related professionals every year to join the ranks of its 6,000 or so members who vote on the Oscars.

"This year's class of invitees represents some of the most talented, creative and passionate filmmakers working in our industry today," said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

"Their contributions to film have entertained audiences around the world, and we are proud to welcome them to the Academy."

Nyong'o won the best supporting actress Oscar in March for her role in harrowing historical drama "12 Years a Slave." Fassbender was also nominated for his role in the film by British director Steve McQueen.

Hawkins was nominated in the same category as Nyong'o for her role in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine," while Coogan was shortlisted this year as writer for true-story based "Philomena."

Williams, whose ubiquitous hit "Happy" took the Internet by storm with copycat dance videos from around the world, was nominated for his work on "Despicable Me 2."

Other nominees included comic Chris Rock, actress June Squibb (Oscar nominee this year for "Nebraska"), "Hunger Games" star Josh Hutcherson and "Veep" TV star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The full list of new members is at: www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2014/20140626.html

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The 2014 Oscar nominees

MANILA - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday night the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards.

Here are the nominees for the major awards:

Best Supporting Actress:

Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
June Squibb (Nebraska)
Julia Roberts (Osage County)
Sally Hawkins (Sally Hawkins)

Best Supporting Actor:

Barkhadi Abdi (Captain Philipps)
Jonah Hill (The Wolf on Wall Street)
Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)

Best Animated Feature:

Frozen
The Wind Rises
The Croods
Ernest & Celestine
Despicable Me 2.

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (Osage County)
Amy Adams (American Hustle)

Best Actor:

Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf on Wall Street)
Christian Bale (American Hustle)

Best Director:

Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
David O. Russell (American Hustle)
Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
Martin Scorsese (The Wolf on Wall Street)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

12 Years a Slave
Philomena
Captain Phillips
Before Midnight
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Picture:

12 Years a Slave
Gravity
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Nebraska
Dallas Buyers Club
Her
The Wolf

For the full list of nominees, visit: http://oscar.go.com/nominees

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com