The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) wants you to know it’s serious about increasing diversity in its ranks.
Every year, the Academy releases the names of all of the filmmakers who have been invited to become voting members of AMPAS for the first time. In addition to the expected list of names — 774 new members hailing from 57 countries — this year the Academy released figures highlighting some demographic breakdowns of the assemblage, along with a statement from Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs encouraging studios to offer more opportunities to aspiring filmmakers from underrepresented racial and cultural backgrounds.
“The entire motion picture community is what we make it,” Isaacs said. “It’s up to all of us to ensure that new faces and voices are seen and heard, and to take a shot on the next generation the way someone took a shot on each of us.”
Source: AMPAS
This year, the Academy focused on women. 39% of new Academy members are female, AMPAS said, bringing the percentage in the Academy’s ranks to 28% overall. That’s far from equal, of course, but figures released by the Academy show that percentage has grown from just 25% two years ago. Women were actually the majority of new invitees in seven branches, AMPAS said — actors, casting directors, costume designers, designers, documentary, executives, and film editors.
Meanwhile, 30 percent of the new Academy members are people of color, bringing the total to 13%, a pretty dramatic increase from just 8% in 2015.
96 of the new members are Oscar nominees, and 24 of them are Oscar winners, but many selections have been made from outside the mainstream. Among the more notable directors invited this year, for example, are Portuguese auteur Pedro Costa, Chilean cult favorite Alejandro Jodorowsky, Austrian writer-director Jessica Hausner, the prolific Japanese maestro Takashi Miike, and Hong Kong action specialist Johnnie To.
The Academy launched a fancy new website for browsing the new members from different branches. If you just want to see the complete list, download the PDF.
