Academy president at PGAs: 'We have listened' to diversity concerns
LOS ANGELES — In a room filled with major Hollywood players at Saturday's Producers Guild Awards, all eyes were on two women: Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.
The duo stepped out one day after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced plans for sweeping membership changes to deal with a storm of criticism that the film body does not represent minority and women voices effectively.
Isaacs told Paste BN that the changes had been under discussion for years, but the work needed to be made public Friday.
"It was important for us to be heard," said Isaacs. "We know what we were doing and the discussions we were having internally. Speaking about this initiative of membership lets everyone know, not that we are listening, but that we have listened."
The Academy changes include a goal of doubling the number of women and diverse Academy members by 2020.
Hudson said Saturday that Academy membership is 7% people of color "and we'll be doubling that within the next three to four years. And we have 24% women and we're doubling that as well," she said.
"We want to be closer to our moviegoing population and our United States population," said Hudson, who added that the Academy's board of governors was "impatient" to make changes.
The diversity controversy erupted after the Oscar nominations this month, when an all-white field was unveiled in the four acting categories for a second year in a row and the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trended on Twitter. Director Spike Lee and actors Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith announced they would not attend the Feb. 28 awards.
At the awards given Saturday by the Producers Guild of America, there were frequent references to the diversity issue. Black-ish star Anthony Anderson presented an award for Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, and seized the opportunity to comment when no one was present to accept the honor.
"I will accept this tonight, because I'll probably be the only brother up here tonight, and in February, getting a trophy," he said.
Anderson then joked about the fact he was presenting another award directly after: "Talk about diversity, I get to do two awards back-to-back."
Producer Dede Gardner referred to minority representation in films during her acceptance speech for The Big Short, which won best picture.
"To kill the elephant in the room: Yes, we have a real problem. We do," said Gardner. "We have privilege in our hands. We're storytellers. We need to tell stories that reflect our world and our country, on all streets and roads."
Shonda Rhimes discussed creating truthful television roles (in stalwarts such as Scandal and Grey's Anatomy) when accepting the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television.
"Women are smart and strong, they are not sex toys or damsels in distress," said Rhimes. "People of color are not sassy or dangerous, and believe me, people of color are not anybody's sidekicks in real life."