Film Academy Invites 683 New Members To Join

Six months after announcing intentions to double the number of female and minority members in its ranks by 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 683 new members to join the organization.

The academy says its invitees are 46 percent female, 41 percent minority and represent 59 countries.

Should all of the invitees accept, the new class would make the academy’s overall membership 27 percent female and 11 percent non-white, up from 25 percent and 8 percent respectively.

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Idris Elba, Chadwick Boseman, Eva Mendes, America Ferrera and Anika Noni Rose are among the actors invited to membership. Other potential new members helping to increase the academy’s diversity include Chinese cinematographer Zhao Fei, Japanese production designer Yohei Taneda, Mexican director Patricia Riggen and musicians such as Fitzgerald Diggs, who’s better known RZA from Wu Tang Clan.

Film academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in a statement that the new class “continues our long-term commitment to welcoming extraordinary talent reflective of those working in film today.”

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The academy announced sweeping changes to its recruitment and voting practices in January after a second straight year of all-white acting nominees for the Academy Awards.

In March, the organization added three new members to its board of governors and appointed six minority members to other leadership positions.

The size of the new membership class this year is double the number of 2015 invitees.