Last week, the Academy sent out 276 new invitations to join its ranks, the highest amount in recent years. (178 were invited in 2011; 135 in 2010; 134 in 2009; and 105 in 2008.) What you will notice from the list of invitations is the focus on diversity which is something the Academy clearly had to deal with since its membership was very old and very white and very male.
It’s great that the Academy is focused on diversity but there are several things to note.
There are only 2 women invited into the directing branch — Ava DuVernay and Catherine Hardwicke. If you will notice, Ava DuVernay was invited into both the directing and the writing branch. (To get invited to be a member you need to be recommended) It is my hopes that she will pick the directing branch, because that branch is desperate for more women, and let’s just say that I would love to be at the first meeting of the directing branch that Ms. DuVernay attends. Those guys are not going to know what hit them. Also, I would say that if you really want more women directors (which I’m not sure is the case) one could make an argument for including Agnes Varda, Tina Gordon Chism and Sarah Polley in that branch rather than where they were nominated.
The list of women (Please forgive if we made mistakes. We make an attempt to figure out the gender neutral names. Sometimes we get it wrong.)
Actors
Miriam Colon
Rosario Dawson
Kimberly Elise
Rebecca Hall
Milla Jovovich
Lucy Liu
Jennifer Lopez
Alma Martinez
Emily Mortimer
Sandra Oh
Paula Patton
Emmanuelle Riva
Cinematographers
Agnes Godard
Sophie de Rakoff
Designers
Lori Balton
Judy Becker
Tracey A. Doyle
Anna Lynch-Robinson
Maria Nay
Directors
Ava DuVernay*
Catherine Hardwicke
Documentary
Rebecca Cammisa
Christine Choy
Bonni Cohen
Miriam Cutler
Andrea Nix Fine
Sean Fine
Lauren Greenfield
Vivien Hillgrove
Heddy Honigmann
Kim Longinotto
Jehane Noujaim
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Elise Pearlstein
Veronica Selver
Ricki Stern
Annie Sundberg
Renee Tajima-Pena
Agnès Varda
Pamela Yates
Amy Ziering
Executives
Holly Bario
Lynn Harris
Hannah Minghella
Angela Morrison
Film Editors
Mary Jo Markey
Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Luisa Abel
Anne Aulenta-Spira
Kay Georgiou
Bernadette Mazur
Kim Santantonio
Lisa Tomblin
Lisa Westcott
Members-at-Large
Victoria Alonso
Jackie Burch
Susie Figgis
Lori Furie
Andy Gill
Mindy Marin
Jeanne McCarthy
Michelle Satter
Cindy Tolan
Music
Jennifer Dunnington
Siedah Garrett
Producers
Finola Dwyer
Julie Lynn
Margaret Menegoz
Andrea Sperling
Public Relations
Rachel Cadden
Theresa Cross
Julie Fontaine
Anne Globe
Short Films and Feature Animation
Danielle Feinberg
Vicky Jenson
Sound
Bobbi Banks
Ann Scibelli
Visual Effects 1 out of 24
Wendy Rogers
Writers
Jessica Bendinger
Tina Gordon Chism
Julie Delpy
Lena Dunham
Ava DuVernay*
Sarah Polley
Associates
Lorrie Bartlett
Sandra Marsh
Kimberly Snyder
