The Academy sends invites to 395 new members, including Robert Pattinson, Issa Rae, and Steven Yeun
This batch of potential members consists of 89 former Oscar nominees and 25 winners
Film News Robert Pattinson
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences unveiled the 395 artists and executives invited to join this year, including actors, producers, musicians, animators, and more.
Membership invitations are given to those the Academy considers distinguished members of the film industry. This batch of potential members consists of 89 former Oscar nominees and 25 winners. Standouts from acting category this year include Stephen Yeun (Minari), Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse), Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), Clea DuVall (But I’m A Cheerleader), Issa Rae (Insecure), Laverne Cox (Promising Young Woman), and more. Newcomers in the directing category include Janicza Bravo (Zola), Nia DaCosta (Candyman), Darius Marder (Sound of Metal), and more.
Broken down demographically, the 2021 class is made up of 46% women, 39% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities and 53% international invitees from 49 countries outside the United States. Last year’s 819 invitees met The Academy’s goal to double the number of women and individuals from underrepresented communities.
Some of the individuals were invited under multiple categories, and will need to select one if they accept the invitation. These multi-talented folks include Leslie Odom Jr (actors and music), Kaouther Ben Hania (directors and writers), Craig Brewer (directors and writers) Lee Isaac Chung (directors and writers) Emerald Fennell (directors and writers), Shaka King (directors and writers), Alexander Nanau (directors and documentary), and Florian Zeller (directors and writers).
Similar to The Grammys, The Oscars has faced criticism over the years for their lack of inclusion and diversity, specifically for people of color, women, and for their lack of international films. Facing increasingly bad ratings, there’s nothing like hitting them in the pocketbooks to get some change to happen. Both of the respective academies have made announcements concerning their voting body for nominations and awards this week, with more diverse invitees than ever seen before in both of their histories.
You can view the entire list of invitees here.
4 Comments
“Academy Sends Invitations to Issa Rae, 394 Other People”FTFY.
Also Janet Jackson! Way to bury the lede!
“Academy Sends Invitations to famous racist Issa Rae and 394 Other People”FTFY.
I would love to see (but never will) a behind-the-scenes documentary on the internal war between the olde-timey Hollywoodland holdouts who are still pushing for movies like Green Book and Anthony Hopkins this year, and the new school who are pushing films like Moonlight and Parasite.