Spike Lee stands by boycott

Other changes will be made as well, including the establishment of three “governor seats” within the Academy and a complete overhaul of the voting process, affording new members an opportunity to make their voices heard.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs attended the Producers Guild Awards at the weekend where she admitted the “past nine days have been pretty lively”. “These new measures regarding governance and voting will have an immediate impact”. Executives have made a decision to limit the power of members who have not been active in the film industry for extended periods of time – starting later in 2016, and new members will have to renew their membership every 10 years.

The same standards will apply retroactively to current members, meaning those who have been inactive in film during the past 10 years would have to either be nominated for an Oscar or win one to qualify, the academy statement said.

The announcement came amid widespread dismay over a second straight year of all-white acting nominees, a development that has turned this year’s awards into a referendum on diversity in the movie industry.

“So until the product that’s being spit out is created at a point where there is more diversity, I don’t know that these changes will substantively affect much”.

This isn’t a case of there not being enough work by black actors and directors being worthy of nomination.

The ignominiously-dubbed #AllWhiteOscars has led to outcry as well as directorSpike Lee, actress Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband Will Smith to boycott the February 28 Oscars hosted by Chris Rock. In order to maintain an active voting body, the Academy is mandating “activ[ity] in motion pictures” over the course of an initial decade-long membership. (Or they can skip the sponsorship thing altogether and just be nominated for an Oscar instead.) Presumably, there was some concern that the sponsorship method was contributing to a “boy’s club” atmosphere at the Academy.

Edwards also expressed excitement about the new steps.

It is weird to assume that, by its voting, each Academy member represents the decisions of studios, networks and talent agencies to produce films. – Ava DuVernay, director of last year’s Oscar-nominated civil rights drama “Selma” who was passed over herself for a nomination, on Twitter.

“The issue is not the Academy”.

“It’s a strong first step”, he added of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ pledge to diversify the organization. Isaacs said she was “heartbroken and frustrated” about the lack of diversity, and that it was time for “big changes”.

“Right now the academy is too top-heavy old”, Edwards said.

So, again, it is hard to feel much sympathy for many in Hollywood but imbalances need to be address so perhaps Isaacs or someone else with the authority to change the makeup of the Academy will act.