Actress Kirstie Alley unleashed an indignant torrent of tweets after the academy announced its new standards, calling the guidelines “a disgrace to artists everywhere.” (Alley has deleted her original tweet, but remnants remain.)
— Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) September 9, 2020
The Black List founder Franklin Leonard had a more optimistic view.
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) September 9, 2020
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) September 9, 2020 Related 2023 Brings a Diverse Set of Oscar Contenders. Will the Final Nominees Reflect that? ‘Living’: The Prime of Mr. Bill Nighy Related Nightmare Film Shoots: The Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from ‘Deliverance’ to ‘Mad Max’ to ‘Avatar 2’ 24 Famously Queer and Homoerotic Horror Movies, from ‘Psycho’ to ‘Hellraiser’
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) September 9, 2020 It’s also the culmination of a process that ignited when April Reign created #OscarsSoWhite in the face of the 2015 Academy Awards. That social-media movement blindsided the Academy as it struggled to justify the awards-season optics of an industry that long preferred lip service to actual change. With the racial justice protests of 2020, those questions became even more acute. First up was the A2020 initiative, launched in 2015 with the goal of doubling the number of women and people of color in the Academy. Led by membership executives Meredith Shea, producer DeVon Franklin, and Lorenza Muñoz, A2020 surpassed its goals. The next target is Academy Aperture 2025, with standards adapted in part from the British Film Institute Diversity Standards used for certain funding eligibility in the UK and in some categories of the BAFTA Awards. In a a phone interview, IndieWire spoke with Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, president David Rubin, producer DeVon Franklin, and Paramount chief Jim Gianopulos about the process of creating the inclusion standards and their thoughts on the industry response.
Franklin underscored the proposal’s flexibility. For example, the initiative’s Standard C requirements offers a category for indies in the form of paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities, as well as training opportunities and skills development. “The onus for inclusion filmmaking standards falls on larger distribution and financing entities, just so indie filmmakers can funnel their films through those entities, and meet it that way and not be inhibited in their own creative choices,” he said. All categories other than Best Picture will be held to their current eligibility requirements. Films in the specialty feature categories (Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, International Feature Film) submitted for Best Picture/General Entry consideration will be addressed separately. For more on the Academy’s new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility in the Best Picture category, as part of its Academy Aperture 2025 initiative, read here. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
