The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences sought to clarify the drastic and surprising membership changes made last week in response to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy by releasing a set of answers on its website Monday.
Last week, the Academy announced that it was making a change to voting privileges. An Academy member must be active in the movie business for a 10-year period or be nominated for an Oscar to vote. If you are active for three 10-year periods, then you are a lifetime voting member.
Older members of the Academy, who have not been active in the industry for 10 years or more, might have been concerned that they were being pushed out. So, the Academy posted answers to frequently asked questions to clarify the new rules. “We’re not excluding older members. Everyone will retain membership,” the statement began.
The Academy said that most of the veteran voters will keep their status and again pointed out that members remain voters as long as they have been nominated or won an Oscar, no matter their current status.
Also, the three 10-year periods do not have to be consecutive. Also, you can even make just one movie during a 10-year period and you will still be considered “active.”
“We want the Oscars to be voted on by people who are currently working in motion pictures, or who have been active for a long time,” the Academy stated. “There are a number of Academy members, however, who had brief careers and left the business. We want to strengthen, uphold, and maintain the credibility of the Oscars with these new criteria. Voting for the Oscars is a privilege of membership, not a right.”
The Academy also insisted that it is not lowering any standards, but “widening our net.” The changes were made in the hope of having a membership that is “more inclusive of the motion picture community, governance that is more representative of our membership, and a stronger Academy overall.”
The changes were implemented in response to #OscarsSoWhite and the growing complaints about a second consecutive acting field with no minority actors nominated.
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