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In the wake of a call to be woke, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is continuing their efforts towards gender and racial equality. Yesterday (June 25), the Academy announced the 2018 class, which is comprised of a record 928 new members. Among those who were extended prized invitations are a number of multi-talented CalArtians.
From the Academy press release:
The new members come from 58 countries, with women comprising 49 percent of the incoming class. Women now comprise 31 percent of the Academy’s membership. Thirty-eight percent of the 2018 incoming members are people of color, bringing the total percentage of Academy members who are also people of color to 16 percent.
Nine branches invited more women than men, including the Actors, Casting Directors, Costume Designers, Documentary, Executives, Film Editors, Makeup Artists & Hairstylists, Producers and Public Relations branches.
The list of alumni invited into the Academy include Alison Brie (Theater BFA 05), a star in the Netflix series G.L.O.W., Character Animation alumnus Sergio Pablos (Film/Video 92), co-creator of the series Despicable Me, Kathy Sielinski (Film/Video 81), animator on Kung Fu Panda 2, Stevie Wermers-Skelton (Film/Video 94), writer, director and story artist at Disney, Shannon Tindle (Film/Video 99), character designer on Kubo and the Two Strings, Jeffrey R. Ranjo (Film/Video BFA 94), story artist on Disney’s Moana and Frozen, Bobby Podesta (Film/Video 93), supervising animator at Pixar, and Yarrow Cheney (Film/Video 95), designer on The Lorax and Despicable Me.
This year’s class also includes current faculty in the Experimental Animation program Lei Lei, and former School of Theater faculty Roger Guenveur Smith and former School of Film/Video faculty Suzan Pitt.
The full list of 928 new inductees can be viewed on the Academy website.
Check out an Academy welcome address from fellow CalArtian Pete Docter below: