Oscars outcry leads to reforms

Associated Press

The film academy is pledging to double the number of female and minority members by 2020, and will immediately diversify its leadership by adding three new seats to its board of governors. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the changes Friday, after a weeklong storm of criticism and calls for an Oscar boycott after academy members nominated an all-white slate of actors for the second year in a row.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 51-member board unanimously approved reforms Thursday to “begin the process of significantly changing our membership composition,” Isaacs said. The number of minorities currently serving as members has not been revealed.

Other changes include limiting members’ voting status to a period of 10 years, to be extended only if the individual remains active in film during that decade. Lifetime voting rights will be granted only to Oscar nominees and winners, and to members after three 10-year voting terms.