Academy Invites 819 New Members

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending membership invitations to 819 artists and executives, according to a statement made yesterday. The 2020 class is 45% women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 49% international from 68 countries; the list includes 75 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners, and five recipients of Scientific and Technical Awards.  Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2020.

Academy President David Rubin stated, “The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travelers in the motion picture arts and sciences.  We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now.”

In 2016, the Academy set specific inclusion goals as part of its A2020 initiative to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020.  Through dedicated and intentional work by the Board of Governors and members on the branch executive committees, the Academy has surpassed both these goals.

The Academy recently announced the next phase of its equity and inclusion initiative, Academy Aperture 2025, which will further the organization’s ongoing efforts to advance inclusion in the entertainment industry and increase representation within its membership and the greater film community.  The initial phase of Academy Aperture 2025 outlined specific goals for the Oscars and Academy governance, membership, and workplace culture.

“We take great pride in the strides we have made in exceeding our initial inclusion goals set back in 2016, but acknowledge the road ahead is a long one,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “We are committed to staying the course.  I cannot give enough thanks to all our members and staff who worked on the A2020 initiative and to our head of Member Relations and Awards, Lorenza Muñoz, for her leadership and passion in guiding us through to this point and helping to set the path going forward.  We look forward to continuing to foster an Academy that reflects the world around us in our membership, our programs, our new Museum, and in our awards.”

Eight individuals have been invited to join the Academy by multiple branches.  These individuals must select one branch upon accepting membership. Additionally, the membership status of all Artists’ Representatives (agents) will change from Associates to Members-at-Large.  As Members-at-Large, agents will now have Oscars voting privileges. 

The full list of new members in the Short Film and Feature Animation and Visual Effects branches is shown below; the full list of 819 new inductees can be viewed on the Academy website.

Short Film and Feature Animation

Frank E. Abney – “Incredibles 2,” “Coco”
Mounia Akl – “Submarine,” “Eva”
Dekel Berenson – “Anna,” “Ashmina”
Lorelay Bove – “Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Jamaal Bradley – “The Croods,” “Puss in Boots”
Colin Brady – “Everyone’s Hero,” “A Bug’s Life”
Gary Bruins – “Inside Out,” “Up”
Matthew A. Cherry – “Hair Love,” “Forward”
Sue-Ellen Chitunya – “Grandpa’s Hands,” “Team Marilyn”
Jérémy Clapin* – “I Lost My Body,” “Palmipédarium”
Bruno Collet – “Memorable,” “Son Indochine”
Josh Cooley – “Toy Story 4,” “Inside Out”
Emanuela Cozzi – “ParaNorman,” “The Prince of Egypt”
BJ Crawford – “The Peanuts Movie,” “Ice Age: Continental Drift”
Philip Dale – “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Coraline”
Everett Downing – “Hair Love,” “WALL-E”
Marc du Pontavice – “I Lost My Body,” “Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie”
Robert Ducey – “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Coraline”
Sonya Dunn – “End of the World,” “The Bedroom”
Fabian Erlinghauser – “Song of the Sea,” “The Secret of Kells”
Jean-Loup Felicioli – “Phantom Boy,” “A Cat in Paris”
Giovanna Ferrari – “The Breadwinner,” “Song of the Sea”
José David Figueroa García – “Perfidia,” “Ratitas”
Michael Ford – “The Angry Birds Movie 2,” “Hotel Transylvania”
Alain Gagnol – “Phantom Boy,” “A Cat in Paris”
Maryann Garger – “Astro Boy,” “Flushed Away”
Axel Geddes – “Toy Story 4,” “Finding Dory”
Delphine Girard – “A Sister,” “Caverne”
Philippe Gluckman – “Rise of the Guardians,” “Antz”
Ian Gooding – “Moana,” “The Princess and the Frog”
Oscar Grillo – “Monsters, Inc.,” “Monsieur Pett”
Otto Guerra – “City of Pirates,” “Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock’n’Roll”
Patrick Hanenberger – “Smallfoot,” “Rise of the Guardians”
Aaron Hartline – “Up,” “Robots”
Deborah Haywood – “Twinkle, Twinkle,” “Sis”
Sabine Heller – “The Peanuts Movie,” “Rio”
Isabel Herguera – “Winter Love,” “Under the Pillow”
Lizzy Hobbs – “The Flounder,” “I’m OK”
Faren Humes – “Liberty,” “Our Rhineland”
Mino Jarjoura – “Saria,” “Asad”
Marcel Jean – “Sleeping Betty,” “La Pirouette”
Meryam Joobeur – “Brotherhood,” “Born in the Maelstrom”
Daria Kashcheeva – “Daughter,” “To Accept”
Paul Kewley – “Early Man,” “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
Anita Killi – “Angry Man,” “The Hedge of Thorns”
Sayoko Kinoshita – “A Little Journey,” “Pica Don”
Michelle Kranot – “Nothing Happens,” “Hollow Land”
Uri Kranot – “Nothing Happens,” “Hollow Land”
Ka'ramuu Kush – “Sundays at Noon,” “Salvation Road”
Jean-François Le Corre – “Memorable,” “This Magnificent Cake!”
Hyun-min Lee – “Moana,” “Big Hero 6”
Matt Lefebvre – “Saria,” “Asad”
Eric Leighton – “Coraline,” “The Nightmare before Christmas”
Niki Lindroth von Bahr – “Something to Remember,” “The Burden”
Andy London – “I’m in the Mood for Death,” “The Back Brace”
Summer Joy Main-Muñoz – “Don’t Say No,” “La Cerca”
Damien Megherbi – “Nefta Football Club,” “Wicked Girl”
Deanna Morse – “Recipe for Birds,” “Whispers of the Prairie”
Bob Moyer – “Toy Story 4,” “Up”
Mark Nielsen – “Toy Story 4,” “Inside Out”
Wanjiru M. Njendu – “Boxed,” “The Dinner Guest”
Justin Pechberty – “Nefta Football Club,” “Wicked Girl”
Amy Pfaffinger – “Moana,” “Frozen”
Yves Piat – “Nefta Football Club,” “Tempus Fugit”
Julia Pistor – “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,” “Rugrats in Paris: The Movie”
Charlotte Regan – “My Boy,” “Standby”
Milo Riccarand – “The Secret Life of Pets,” “Despicable Me”
Stéphan Roelants – “The Breadwinner,” “Song of the Sea”
Kirsikka Saari – “After the Reunion,” “Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?”
Ahmad Saleh – “Ayny,” “Maa Baa”
Dan Scanlon – “Onward,” “Monsters University”
Sheila Sofian – “Survivors,” “Secret Rage”
Jason Stalman – “Isle of Dogs,” “Kubo and the Two Strings”
Colin Stimpson – “The Secret Life of Pets,” “We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story”
Chris Sullivan – “Consuming Spirits,” “Ain’t Misbehavin!” 
Amos Sussigan – “Swan Cake,” “Broken Wing”
Michael J. Travers – “The Peanuts Movie,” “Ice Age”
Saschka Unseld – “The Blue Umbrella,” “Toy Story 3”
Eric Wachtman – “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Coraline”
Fusako Yusaki – “The Rose of the Winds,” “Winter Days”
Juan Pablo Zaramella – “Luminaris,” “The Glove”

Visual Effects

David Alexander – “Cliffs of Freedom,” “The Laundromat”
Jon Franklin Alexander – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Noah” 
Vishal Anand – “Bharat,” “War”
Berj Bannayan – “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” “Geostorm”
John Bell – “Rango,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
Tami Carter – “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Lucy”
Ahdee Chiu – “The Wandering Earth,” “The Last Stand”
Ryan Michael Church – “Transformers: The Last Knight,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”
Todd Constantine – “Jumanji: The Next Level,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”
Ryan Cook – “The Call of the Wild,” “Rampage”
Karin Margarete Cooper – “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Kong: Skull Island”
Dan Cox – “The A-Team,” “Gulliver’s Travels”
Nick Marc Epstein – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”
Leandro Estebecorena – “The Irishman,” “Kong: Skull Island”
Luca Fascione – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Avengers: Endgame”
Greg Fisher – “The Jungle Book,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Aaron Gilman – “Alpha,” “Pacific Rim Uprising”
Stephane Grabli – “The Irishman,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
Darin Grant – “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” “Kung Fu Panda 2”
Jeremy Hays – “The Call of the Wild,” “Once upon a Time…in Hollywood”
Sandeep Kamal – “Panipat,” “Jal”
Sidney Olivier Kombo-Kintombo – “Avengers: Endgame,” “War for the Planet of the Apes”
Hoiyue Harry Lam – “Midway,” “The Wandering Earth”
Mårten Larsson – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Pixels”
Patrick Ledda – “Dumbo,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”
Gong Myung Lee – “Triple Frontier,” “Deadpool 2”
Richard Little – “1917,” “The Jungle Book”
Doug Moore – “12 Strong,” “Ant-Man”
Elliot Newman – “The Lion King,” “The Jungle Book”
Artemis Oikonomopoulou – “Annihilation,” “Thor: Ragnarok”
Mihaela Orzea – “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “The Huntsman: Winter’s War”
Mike Anthony Perry – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” 
Todd Sheridan Perry – “Black Panther,” “Doctor Strange”
Nick Rasmussen – “Ready Player One,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
Marco Revelant – “Gemini Man,” “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
Jason Schugardt – “Clown,” “In the Blood”
David Seager – “Aladdin,” “Terminator: Dark Fate”
Amy Shepard – “Playing with Fire,” “Doctor Strange”
Bill Spitzak – “Abominable,” “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
Olcun Tan – “Doctor Sleep,” “Thor: Ragnarok”
Dmitry Tokoyakov – “Beyond the Edge,” “Furious”
James Tooley – “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
Leandro Visconti – “Lion’s Heart,” “The Innocents”
Paige Warner – “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”
Matt Welford – “A Dog’s Way Home,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”
Victor Wong – “The Founding of an Army,” “Rise of the Legend”
Max Wood – “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” “Suicide Squad”
Ged Wright – “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “22 July”

Source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

AWN Staff Editor