Film Academy Invites a Record 683 New Members: 46 Percent Female and 41 Percent People of Color

By Gregg Kilday, The Hollywood Reporter

As the Oscar-granting organization makes a push for more diversity, it reaches out to the largest number of new members ever.    

As part of its effort to increase diversity among its ranks, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today issued a record 683 invitations to new members — from rising stars like Star Wars’ John Boyega and The Danish Girll’s Alicia Vikander to musicians like Mary J. Blige and Will.i.am to internationally recognized directors like Great Britain’s Ken Loach and Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami.

The new members are heavily weighted to favor women and people of color. 46 percent of the new members are female and 41 percent are people of color. If all elect to join, it will begin to shift the demographic makeup of the Academy, which has been criticized in the past for being too old, too male and too white. According to the Academy, its membership was 75 percent male before this year’s new members were recruited, and could move to 73 percent male once they join. Similarly, the Academy was 92 percent white before the latest list and could become 89 percent white in its wake.

The class of 2016 includes 28 Oscar winners and 98 nominees, who collectively represent 109 nominations. Of the new invitees, 283 are considered international members, representing 59 countries.

The newest list follows a trend that has developed over the last few years as Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and CEO Dawn Hudson have urged the organization to broaden its reach to include more women, minorities and international filmmakers. Last year, that resulted in 322 invitations, an increase over the the 271 invites sent out in 2014 and the 276 invites in 2014. Before those years, the annual invitation list usually resulted in less than 200 new faces making the cut: For example, there were 176 in 2012 and 178 in 2011.

The Academy’s diversity push began even before the nominations were announced in 2014 for the 86th Oscars and a lack of minorities among the acting nominees led to the protest hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. But the resulting outcry, which only grew louder when the situation repeated itself in 2015, put added pressure on the Academy to redouble its efforts.

As of the beginning of this year, the Academy’s 6,261 voting members were approximately 92 percent white and 75 percent male. Boone Isaacs, backed by the board of governors, has vowed that the Academy should increase its number of women and diverse members by 2020. But in order to meet those numbers, the Academy is having to significantly increase the number of new members it invites each

Each of the Academy’s 17 branches draws up its own list of new members, and candidates must be sponsored by two members of the branch they will be invited to join. The basic requirement is that a candidate must have “demonstrated exceptional achievement in the field of theatrical motion pictures,” although each branch then has its own requirements. Actors, for example, must have a minimum of three theatrical features, while directors must have a minimum of two directorial credits. Academy Award nominess are automatically considered for membership, although an invite is not guaranteed.

The full list is available Here.