Cheryl Boone Iscaacs has been named as the 2017 recipient of the Pioneer of the Year Honor by The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, Variety reports. The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will receive her award March 29 at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
The former president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema is working towards making the Academy inclusive. In June the Academy announced that it tapped a total of 683 new members, compared to 322 last year. The new class is dramatically more inclusive than in the past — 46 percent are women, and 41 percent are people of color. (But the overall number of women in the Academy only increased from 25 percent to 27 percent , and the number of people of color just increased from eight percent to 11 percent.) “Our audiences are global and rich in diversity,” Boone Isaacs has said, “and every facet of our industry should be as well.”
Boone Isaacs is the first African-American to serve as Academy president, and the third woman to hold the position. As Variety reports, “Boone Isaacs oversees the Oscar ceremonies” and “also runs her own company, CBI Enterprises, where she has created and executed publicity campaigns for ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘The Artist.’”
The trailblazer was inducted into the NAACP Hall of Fame in 2014.
“We are delighted that Cheryl has accepted the 2017 Pioneer of the Year Award and will be receiving this well-deserved honor,” commented Jim Orr, president of the foundation and exec VP of domestic theatrical distribution at Universal Pictures. “She is a true Pioneer in our industry, who demonstrates extraordinary leadership and vision not only in her role at the Academy, but also as a committed member of the entertainment community at large. We look forward to celebrating Cheryl’s philanthropic contributions and professional accomplishments at CinemaCon 2017,” he said.
Boone Isaacs was awarded the Rosa Parks Humanitarian award this year by the Southern Christian leadership Conference of Southern California. She serves as the Advisory Commissioner of YCWCA Greater Los Angeles.
