'The Academy' Extends Invitation To 819 Artists, 36% Are People Of Color

In a bid to diversify its roster, the Academy sent out invitations to a new group of voting members. About 36% of these are people of color. Zendaya, Awkwafina, Cynthia Erivo, Constance Wu, Olivia Wilde, Florence Pugh, Ryan Murphy, Matthew Cherry and John David Washington are just some of the new members belonging to the 819 invited.

According to People, of the 819 new artists, 45% are women and 49% are based outside of the United States. Academy President David Rubin spoke about their choices, expressing delight on behalf of the Academy in welcoming the new artists. He also said that the Academy always embraced those who had extraordinary talent, and the current situation only necessitates doing so.

The step marks the latest move by the Academy to diversify its membership after the tag #OscarsSoWhite made its rounds. In June, the Academy also announced the second phase of “Academy Aperture 2025,” an effort to make its membership more inclusive and equal.

This phase will also include the creation of a task force that will implement and help in the development of more representation and standards of inclusion in the Oscars. The Academy hopes that it will be done by July 31, 2020, according to a press release on the said issue.

A complete list of the artists who are included in the new 819 was shared by Hollywood Reporter. A who’s who of Hollywood artists are included — Names like Letitia Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Claire Foy, Tom Holland, Gemma Chan, Lady Gaga, Will Poulter and Adele were included in the list of invitations.

The director’s branch had names like Jonathan M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), Nisha Ganatra (Late Night), Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Liza Johnson (Elvis & Nixon) and Jon Baird (Stan & Ollie).

Included in the list of improvements the Academy plans to implement are a guaranteed 10 Best Picture nominees beginning with the 2021 Oscars, year-round access for Academy members to the Academy Screening Room, and unconscious bias training, which is made mandatory for all the Academy governors, executive committee members and staff.