Oscars Chief Says Academy Is Looking Further Abroad for Members and Films
Bill Kramer, chief executive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, says the group wants a more international membership. Speaking at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival, he said that a decade ago 5 percent of Academy members lived outside the United States. Today that share is 25 percent, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
The Academy has about 70 members in Japan, and Kramer said he expects that number to grow. He also said that at the most recent Oscars, every award category included international representation. The Academy is the body that runs the Oscars, and its members, who are film professionals, vote on the winners. Parasite, a South Korean film, won Best Picture.
Kramer's visit was his first trip to Asia, according to Screen Daily. The festival ran an "Academy in Tokyo" programme, with a panel that included Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor and chief membership, impact and industry officer Meredith Shea. Festival director Takeo Hisamatsu moderated. Kramer also took part in a special talk with Hiro Matsuoka, chief executive of Toho, one of Japan's largest film companies.
The festival is also a place where the Academy's rules get discussed. Deadline reported that the Academy plans to widen the list of festivals whose winning films can qualify for the International Oscar category. That category is the award for films made outside the United States.
The broadcast side is also changing. The Academy's deal with YouTube gives the video platform exclusive global rights to the Oscars from 2029 through 2033. ABC will air its final Oscars telecast in 2028 before YouTube takes over, The Hollywood Reporter reported. Kramer said the ceremony will be free on YouTube to 2.5 billion people worldwide, in more than 30 languages.
Earlier this month, the Academy invited 529 artists and executives to become members. Those invitations included 95 Oscar nominees, 21 of them winners, and three recipients of Scientific and Technical Awards. Kramer's remarks in Tokyo fit that pattern of recruiting from further afield.
Kramer's remarks came during a week when Japan's government was also talking up its entertainment business. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, according to The Hollywood Reporter, set a goal of lifting overseas entertainment sales to $130 billion by 2033.
