Jul 3, 2020

The animation and VFX branches of the Academy have lagged behind other branches in membership invitations to women

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, has invited 819 artists, filmmakers, and executives to join its organization.

Among the Academy's 17 branches, there are two related to Cartoon Brew's areas of coverage: Short Films & Feature Animation and Visual Effects. In the former branch, the Academy invited 81 people (25 fewer than last year), while in the latter branch, 48 people were invited (18 fewer). Combined, these people represent just over 15% of the total number invited this year - a low percentage compared to recent years. However, the figures still represent a significant long-term expansion of these branches (for example, in 2011, the Academy invited just 13 people into the animation branch; in 2015, only 20).

In 2016, facing heavy criticism over the lack of diversity in its membership, the Academy set itself the goal of doubling the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020. It has met that target: across all branches, 45% of new invitees are female, 36% non-white.

But animation and vfx lag behind. Strikingly, women account for just over one in three invitees to the Short Films & Feature Animation branch, and only around one in eight for Visual Effects. That won't come as a huge surprise to observers of these industries, where women continue to be denied equal opportunity, despite progress. Last year's invitees in these branches were predominantly male, too.

We can debate whether these numbers say more about systemic problems in the industry or the Academy's uneven application of its own diversity program. In any case, the Academy has launched a new initiative, Academy Aperture 2025, that aims to build on its progress over the next five years. New policies include “new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility,” and unconscious bias training for Academy leaders and staff.

While neither the animation and vfx branches invited more women than men or could claim that the majority of their candidates were from “underrepresented ethnic/racial commmunities,” as some of the other branches could, they were among the 13 Academy branches who invited the majority of their candidates from international regions this year.

Below are the full lists of people invited to join the Short Films & Feature Animation and Visual Effects branches. The former branch includes filmmakers involved in live-action shorts. An asterisk denotes that the person has been invited to join the Academy by multiple branches, and must select one branch upon accepting membership.