AMPAS
Film Academy, BAFTA, Grammys Heads on Diversity Progress, AI, and Modernizing Awards Shows
How to handle and regulate AI, how to continue making awards shows more appealing to a broader audience, and how key improving diversity is to ensuring relevance and revenue were just some of the questions discussed by the heads of the organizations behind the Oscars, BAFTA Awards and Grammys in Toronto on Sunday morning. Bill […]
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New Academy Museum Exhibit Details How Jews Pioneered the Film Business
Two years ago, when the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened, there was an outcry over the exclusion of the film industry’s Jewish pioneers. “If you’re going to have a museum in Los Angeles tied to the Academy that celebrates arguably the most significant art form of the 20th century, how is it possible not […]
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Julianna Margulies, Greg Berlanti, Mayim Bialik Among 260 Signatories of Letter to Film Academy Critiquing Jewish Exclusion from Diversity Standards
Amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas, Jewish entertainment figures have come together to issue an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences criticizing their exclusion from being specified as an underrepresented group. “An inclusion effort that excludes Jews is both steeped in and misunderstands antisemitism,” reads the letter, organized by the […]
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Oscar Winners Robert Legato, Deborah Scott Among New Academy SciTech Council Members
Industry vets Dominic Glynn, Rob Legato, Nancy Richardson, Deborah Scott, Tom Sito and Sharon Smith Holley have accepted invitations to join the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Visual effects supervisor and VFX branch member Legato won Oscars for Titanic, Hugo and The Jungle Book. His VFX credits also […]
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Do Awards Ceremonies Still Matter? Film Academy and BAFTA Heads Discuss Their “Important Place in the Ecosystem”
With viewing figures for awards shows largely in decline and less than half of what they were at their peak, the importance of such ceremonies has been called into question in recent years. Perhaps understandably, the heads of the two organizations who put on the biggest award shows in the film world have put up […]
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Film Academy Launches ‘Members Only’ Digital Series Featuring Troy Kotsur, Paul Raci and More (Exclusive)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ has launched a new digital series, Members Only, featuring actors and Academy members Troy Kotsur and Paul Raci in its debut episode. Set to release weekly, the four-part interview series seeks to celebrate the global film community through candid conversations among AMPAS members of the same branch, […]
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Metrograph Taps Former AMPAS Global Outreach Manager to Expand Membership Initiatives (Exclusive)
Strategist and producer Roger Mancusi has been tapped as the new membership consultant at Metrograph, the entertainment company announced Thursday. The former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member relations and global outreach manager will begin immediately, and is responsible for leading new initiatives around Metrograph NYC’s growing membership community. In his previous role […]
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Film Academy’s SciTech Council Head Exits (Exclusive)
Andy Maltz, who led the Academy’s Science and Technology Council for nearly two decades, was recently and quietly let go from the Academy, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. He joined the Academy as managing director of the Council in 2003 and was upped to senior vp of the Council in January 2020. George Joblove, a […]
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Members Applaud Academy’s New Production and Technology Branch: “The Arts and Sciences Not Only Inspire Each Other But Require Each Other”
Members-at-Large of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are applauding Friday’s news that they will become part of a new Production and Technology Branch. Comprising approximately 400 individuals previously classified as Members-at-Large, the new branch represents members working in various technical and production positions including chief technology officers, senior department heads in technology […]
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AMPAS’ Jeanell English on Implementing Inclusion Standards: “The Action of the Filmmaking Community is What’s Really Driving Change”
For the past two awards cycles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has implemented a “soft rollout” of its representation and inclusion standards, collecting demographic information about the participants in front of and behind the camera for all Oscar best picture submissions before next season, when films must meet a minimum of diversity benchmarks — for […]
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Academy Launches Development Program for Black British Film Composers
Film composition has historically been one of the least diverse crafts in the industry, but the Academy is launching a new program to address the deficit. The organization has partnered with Mercury Studios, which has offices in London and Los Angeles, to launch the Jonas Gwangwa Music Composition Initiative, a yearlong development program for U.K.-based […]
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Academy Conducting 13 SciTech Investigations for Awards Consideration
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced 13 scientific and technical investigations in areas from large format digital cameras to virtual production systems for this year’s awards. Each year, these investigations are made public so that individuals and companies developing innovations within these areas will have the opportunity to submit achievements for review. […]
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