Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences elected new members to the board of governors. There are two new members, director Lisa Cholodenko and producer Kathleen Kennedy. Kathleen Kennedy has previously been on the board and Cholodenko is a first time board member elected to the remaining two years of Paul Mazursky’s term.
Unfortunately these numbers aren’t surprising when looking at the bigger picture of the members on the board of governors. A staggering 35 men are members while only 8 members are women.
Cholodenko will represent the directors branch alongside Kathryn Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker. While this is a great achievement, it is also deeply ironic considering only 4 women have been nominated for Best Director in the history of the Academy Awards — Lina Wertmüller (1976), Jane Campion (1993), Sofia Coppola (2003) and Kathryn Bigelow, who won in 2009, the sole woman to ever win the award. But this could help get more women nominated for best director, because it is the individual branch that picks the nominees.
The board meets again July 31st to a president for the next year.
Here is a list of the women members:
Kathleen Kennedy, Gale Anne Hurd — Producers Branch
Annette Bening — Actors Branch
Rosemary Brandenburg — Designers
Kathryn Bigelow, Lisa Cholodenko — Directors
Anne V. Coates — Film Editor
Cheryl Boone Issacs — Public Relations
Former Disney Chief Dick Cook, ‘Twilight’ Director Bill Condon Join Academy’s Board of Governors (The Hollywood Reporter)