Film Academy Wants Women And People Of Color After #OscarsSoWhite

The organisers of the Oscars have invited a record number of new people to vote for next year’s Academy Awards following the row over a lack of diversity. Meanwhile, Boyega who becomes the Academy’s youngest member at 24 rose to stardom with his role in the blockbuster “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

This year’s Oscars saw heavy criticism from the public regarding mainly the absence of non-white actors for the second consecutive year. The film and TV industry was already under scrutiny for its lack of diversity after the American Civil Liberties Union urged US and California civil-rights agencies to investigate alleged bias against women.

If all 683 invited professionals do join, the academy would have 7,789 members, it added.

But it’s not just ethnic diversity the Academy addressed with this new batch of members, but also gender diversity with the likes of Oscar winners Brie Larson and Alicia Vikander, Kate Beckinsale and Emma Watson joining up too.

Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal.

At the 2016 awards, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said the Academy was making a strong effort to make the Oscars more inclusive and diverse.

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

That said, the academy deserves some credit for enlarging its membership and pushing its boundaries – it literally scoured the globe for candidates – to bring in professionals from a wider array of backgrounds.

Back in January, Boone Isaacs announced the Academy’s plan to overhaul its policies in an attempt to make its membership “significantly” more diverse. The new class will raise the percentage of “people of color” among Academy members from 8 percent to 11 percent, while the percentage of female members will increase from 25 percent to 27 percent.

“This class continues our long-term commitment to welcoming extraordinary talent reflective of those working in film today”.

But it will take time to fundamentally diversify the organization s 6,000-plus voting members.