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)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

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