The Oscars are in the process of changing.
On Friday, it was announced that the Board of Governors of
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body behind the
Oscars/Academy Awards, is making some big
changes based on a unanimous vote on Thursday evening.
The group announced a variety of voting changes, and
highlighted its goal to work on recruiting “qualified new members who
represent greater diversity.”
READ: Jada Pinkett Smith & Spike Lee To Boycott Oscars Due To Lack Of 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 Board of Governors announced on Friday in a release.
“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,” the announcement release read.
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The group said that by 2020, it hopes to double the number
of diverse members.
“The Academy is going to lead and not wait for the
industry to catch up,” Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in a
statement. “These new measures regarding governance and voting will have
an immediate impact and begin the process of significantly changing our
membership composition.”
Additionally, the group announced changes to voting rights.
Voting status will last for a decade and will renew if the new member has been
active in motion pictures during that time period. If a person is active for
three decades, or, if they’ve won an Oscar, they will be granted lifetime
voting rights.
The Oscars came under fire earlier this month when the
nominees in major acting categories did not include minorities. Since the
nominations were announced, director Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith and her
husband, “Concussion” star Will Smith, announced
they will not attend the event.
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The Oscars air live on Sunday, February 28 at 7 ET/4 PT on ABC.
— Jolie Lash
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