The Film Academy Takes Action Against Lack Of Diversity

Following the huge controversy that came to be known as #OscarsSoWhite, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has put forth major efforts to prevent any further diversity issues. Earlier today it was revealed that the Academy issued a record 683 invitations to new members. The new invitees are heavily weighted to favor women (46%) and people of color (41%). If all invitees elect to join, the Academy’s membership will drop from 75% male to 73% and from 92% White to 89%. The class of 2016 includes 28 Oscar winners and 98 nominees. Of the new invitees, 283 are considered international members, representing 59 countries. Some names were even invited twice, such as writer and director of Creed, Ryan Coogler. (In such cases the new member elects one branch to join.) 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. For example, Actors must have a minimum of three theatrical features and Directors must have a minimum of two directorial credits. Below contains the list of invitees in both the Actor and Director category:

Actors: Mahershala Ali –““The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Parts 1 and 2),” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Anthony Anderson – “The Departed,” “Hustle & Flow” Adam Beach – “The Departed,” “Hustle & Flow” Kate Beckinsale -– “Love & Friendship,” “The Aviator” Chadwick Boseman -– “Captain America: Civil War,” “Get on Up” John Boyega – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Attack the Block” Betty Buckley ­– “Wyatt Earp,” “Carrie” Rose Byrne – “X-Men: First Class,” “Bridesmaids” Julie Carmen – “The Milagro Beanfield War,” “Gloria” Enrique Castillo­ – “Déjà Vu,” “Bound by Honor” Morris Chestnut – “G.I. Jane,” “Boyz N the Hood” Cliff Curtis – “Live Free or Die Hard,” “Training Day” Idris Elba – “Beasts of No Nation,” “Pacific Rim America Ferrera – “Cesar Chavez,” “End of Watch” Vivica A. Fox – “Kill Bill,” “Independence Day” Andrew Garfield – “99 Homes,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” Greta Gerwig – “Frances Ha,” “To Rome with Love” Jesse D. Goins – “The Ugly Truth,” “Patriot Games” Bruce Greenwood – “Flight,” “Star Trek” Carla Gugino – “Watchmen,” “Night at the Museum” Luis Guzmán – “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Carlito’s Way” Dennis Haysbert – “Dear White People,” “Wreck-It Ralph” Tom Hiddleston – “Crimson Peak,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” James Hong – “Safe,” “Mulan” Oscar Isaac – “Ex Machina,” “A Most Violent Year” O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson* – “Ride Along,” “Friday” Dakota Johnson – “Black Mass,” “Fifty Shades of Grey” Cherry Jones – “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” “Signs” Michael B. Jordan – “Creed,” “Fruitvale Station” Daniel Dae Kim – “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” “Crash” Regina King – “Ray,” “Jerry Maguire Brie Larson – “Room,” “Trainwreck” Byung-Hun Lee – “Terminator Genisys,” “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” Nia Long – “Keanu,” “Boyz N the Hood” Sal Lopez – “The Astronaut Farmer,” “Full Metal Jacket” Ignacio López Tarso – “Under the Volcano,” “Nazarin” Patti LuPone – “Parker,” “Driving Miss Daisy” Peter Mackenzie – “Trumbo,” “42” Rachel McAdams – “Spotlight,” “Midnight in Paris” Eva Mendes – “The Place beyond the Pines,” “Hitch” Tatsuya Nakadai – “Ran,” “Kagemusha” Adepero Oduye – “The Big Short,” “12 Years a Slave” Marisa Paredes – “The Skin I Live In,” “All about My Mother” Nate Parker – “Beyond the Lights,” “Red Tails” Harold Perrineau – “Zero Dark Thirty,” “28 Weeks Later” Jorge Perugorría – “Che,” “Strawberry and Chocolate” Silvia Pinal – “Vintage Model,” “The Exterminating Angel” Freida Pinto – “Immortals,” “Slumdog Millionaire” Michelle Rodriguez – “Avatar,” “Girlfight” Anika Noni Rose – “For Colored Girls,” “Dreamgirls” Cecilia Roth – “Lucia Lucia,” “All about My Mother” Mark Rylance – “Bridge of Spies,” “The Other Boleyn Girl” Pepe Serna – “The Black Dahlia,” “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez” Martin Starr – “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” “Adventureland” Elizabeth Sung – “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “The Joy Luck Club” Sharmila Tagore – “Dhadkan,” “The World of Apu” Tessa Thompson – “Creed,” “Dear White People” Lorraine Toussaint – “Selma,” “Middle of Nowhere” Glynn Turman – “Super 8,” “Men of Honor” Gabrielle Union – “Top Five,” “Bad Boys II” Jacob Vargas – “The 33,” “Jarhead” Alicia Vikander – “The Danish Girl,” “Ex Machina” Emma Watson – “The Bling Ring,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” Damon Wayans, Jr. – “Big Hero 6,” “Let’s Be Cops” Marlon Wayans – “The Heat,” “Requiem for a Dream” Rita Wilson – “It’s Complicated,” “Runaway Bride” Daphne Zuniga – “Staying Together,” “Spaceballs”

Directors: Lenny Abrahamson – “Room,” “Frank” Naji Abu Nowar – “Theeb” Maren Ade – “Everyone Else,” “The Forest for the Trees” Lexi Alexander – “Punisher: War Zone,” “Green Street Hooligans” Haifaa al-Mansour – “Wadjda” Ana Lily Amirpour – “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” Amma Asante – “Belle,” “A Way of Life” Katie Aselton – “Black Rock,” “The Freebie” Ramin Bahrani – “99 Homes,” “At Any Price” Anna Boden – “Mississippi Grind,” “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” Catherine Breillat – “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Sex Is Comedy” Israel Cárdenas – “Sand Dollars,” “Carmita” Carlos Carrera – “Backyard,” “El Crimen del Padre Amaro” Nuri Bilge Ceylan – “Winter Sleep,” “Once upon a Time in Anatolia” Souleymane Cissé – “Brightness,” “The Wind” Isabel Coixet – “Learning to Drive,” “Elegy” Ryan Coogler* – “Creed,” “Fruitvale Station” Scott Cooper – “Black Mass,” “Crazy Heart” John Crowley – “Brooklyn,” “Closed Circuit” Julie Dash – “Daughters of the Dust” Tamra Davis – “Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child,” “Billy Madison” Jonathan Dayton – “Ruby Sparks,” “Little Miss Sunshine” Dominique Deruddere – “Flying Home,” “Everybody Famous!” Xavier Dolan – “Mommy,” “Tom at the Farm” Cheryl Dunye – “My Baby’s Daddy,” “The Watermelon Woman” Deniz Gamze Ergüven – “Mustang” Valerie Faris – “Ruby Sparks,” “Little Miss Sunshine” Shana Feste – “Endless Love,” “Country Strong” Hannah Fidell – “A Teacher” Anne Fletcher – “The Proposal,” “Step Up” Ari Folman – “The Congress,” “Waltz with Bashir” Anne Fontaine – “Gemma Bovery,” “Coco before Chanel” Cary Joji Fukunaga – “Beasts of No Nation,” “Jane Eyre” Nicole Garcia – “A View of Love,” “Charlie Says” Juan Antonio Garcia Bayona – “The Impossible,” “The Orphanage” Sarah Gavron – “Suffragette,” “Brick Lane” Lesli Linka Glatter – “The Proposition,” “Now and Then” Ciro Guerra* – “Embrace of the Serpent,” “The Wind Journeys” Laura Amelia Guzmán – “Sand Dollars,” “Carmita” Sanaa Hamri – “Just Wright,” “Something New” Mia Hansen-Løve* – “Eden,” “The Father of My Children” Mahamet-Saleh Haroun – “Grigris,” “Our Father” Mary Harron – “The Notorious Bettie Page,” “American Psycho” Marielle Heller* – “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” Albert Hughes – “The Book of Eli,” “Dead Presidents” Hou Hsiao-Hsien – “The Assassin,” “Three Times” Patty Jenkins – “Wonder Woman,” “Monster” Naomi Kawase* – “Still the Water,” “The Mourning Forest” Abdellatif Kechiche – “Blue Is the Warmest Color,” “Black Venus” Abbas Kiarostami – “Certified Copy,” “Taste of Cherry” So Yong Kim – “For Ellen,” “In Between Days” Kiyoshi Kurosawa – “Seventh Code,” “Pulse” Karyn Kusama – “Jennifer’s Body,” “Girlfight” Francis H. Lawrence – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “I Am Legend” Tobias Lindholm* – “A War,” “A Hijacking” Phyllida Lloyd – “The Iron Lady,” “Mamma Mia!” Ken Loach – “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” “Kes” Julia Loktev – “The Loneliest Planet,” “Day Night Day Night” Ami Canaan Mann – “Jackie & Ryan,” “Texas Killing Fields” Lucrecia Martel – “The Headless Woman,” “The Holy Girl” Adam McKay* – “The Big Short,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” Deepa Mehta – “Midnight’s Children,” “Water” Ursula Meier – “Sister,” “Home” Rebecca Miller* – “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” “Personal Velocity” Karen Moncrieff – “The Dead Girl,” “Blue Car” Cristian Mungiu* – “Graduation,” “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” Anna Muylaert – “The Second Mother” László Nemes* – “Son of Saul” María Novaro – “The Good Herbs,” “Lola” Victor Nunez – “Spoken Word,” “Ulee’s Gold” Euzhan Palcy – “Siméon,” “A Dry White Season” Park Chan-wook* – “Stoker,” “Oldboy” Lucía Puenzo – “The German Doctor,” “El Niño Pez” Lynne Ramsay – “We Need to Talk about Kevin,” “Morvern Callar” Dee Rees – “Pariah” Nicolas Winding Refn – “Only God Forgives,” “Drive” Patricia Riggen – “The 33,” “Girl in Progress” Gillian Robespierre – “Obvious Child” Patricia Rozema – “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” “Mansfield Park” Marjane Satrapi – “The Voices,” “Persepolis” Sam Taylor-Johnson – “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Nowhere Boy” George Tillman, Jr. – “Notorious,” “Soul Food” Luis Valdez – “La Bamba,” “Zoot Suit” Melvin Van Peebles – “Identity Crisis,” “Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song” Margarethe von Trotta – “Rosenstrasse,” “Marianne and Juliane” Lana Wachowski – “Cloud Atlas,” “The Matrix Trilogy” Lilly Wachowski – “Cloud Atlas,” “The Matrix Trilogy” Taika Waititi – “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” “What We Do in the Shadows” James Wan – “The Conjuring,” “Saw” Keenan Ivory Wayans* – “Scary Movie,” “A Low Down Dirty Shame” Apichatpong Weerasethakul – “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” “Tropical Malady”