Academy of Motion Pictures Welcomes Diverse New Class

By N. Jamiyla Chisholm Jul 02, 2019

On Monday (June 1), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the names of the 842 new members of its incoming 2019 class. It represents a major shift away from White men, with half of the new members identifying as women, 29 percent of them identifying as people of color and 59 countries represented. The artists and executives were chosen because they “distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures,” according to the Academy.

The #OscarsSoWhite movement, launched by April Reign in January 2015, may have caused the shift, as various areas in the industry, from casting directors to costume designers, invited more women than men into the global club, and the overall membership for people of color and women has doubled and increased by 7 percent since 2015, respectively.

Among this year’s new members are Sterling K. Brown (“Black Panther), Chinonye Chukwu (“Clemency”), Nisha Ganatra, (“Late Night”), Terence Nance (“Univitellin”) and Anna Terrazas (“Roma”). See the complete list of new members here.