Academy Invites 928 New Members For 2018
Variety.com: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited a record number of new members, extending invites to 928 people.
The Academy topped last year’s record of 774 new members. It invited 683 members in 2016 and 322 in 2015, which were also record numbers.
The expansion of Academy membership to more than 9,200 stems from an ongoing effort to diversify its ranks following uproar over the lack of African-American nominees in 2015 and 2016, which culminated in 2016’s #OscarsSoWhite controversy. Two weeks after the widely criticized nominations were announced, AMPAS announced a goal to double the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020.
If all the 2018 invitees accept, the overall membership would be 9,226.
Monday’s invitations, if accepted, will result in 38% of the Oscars’ governing body’s new class being comprised of people of color, increasing their representation from 13% in 2017 to 16%.
Some of the big-name actors include Daniel Kaluuya, Mindy Kaling, Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani, Blake Lively, Amy Schumer, Dave Chappelle, Miles Teller, Randall Park, Daisy Ridley, Timothee Chalamet, Hong Chau, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Blake Lively, Regina Hall, Rashida Jones, Lily James, Lily Collins, Chloe Grace Moretz, Olivia Munn, Kal Penn, Pedro Pascal, Amber Tamblyn, Damon Wayans, Gina Rodriguez, Sarah Silverman, Jada Pinkett Smith, Evan Rachel Wood, and Amandla Stenberg.
Actors make up about 20% of the Academy’s membership and are its largest branch. The new members come from 59 different countries and include South Korean actress Doona Bae, Algerian actress Sofia Boutella, and Indian actor Ali Fazal.
Angela Robinson (“Professor Marston and the Wonder Women”), Justin Simien (“Dear White People”) and Sean Baker (“The Florida Project”) are among the directors invited to join the Academy. International filmmakers include Luca Guadagnino, Andy Muschietti, Chloe Zhao, Nadine Labaki, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Ziad Doueiri, and Michel Gondry.
Writers tapped include J.K. Rowling, Emily V. Gordon, Jonathan Nolan, Joe Robert Cole and Virgil Williams. Kendrick Lamar, Melissa Etheridge, Sufjan Stevens, and Questlove are some of the invited musicians.