July 22, 2013–Documentary director Alex Gibney is among the 10 new additions elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Alex Gibney, representing the documentary branch and succeeding Michael Moore, will be joined by fellow first-timers Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman (costume designers), Rick Carter and Jan Pascale (designers), Lynzee Klingman (film editors), Amy Pascal (executives), Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso (makeup artists and hairstylists) and Nancy Utley (public relations).
Amy Pascal is the first female executive branch governor since Mary Pickford, only the second one in history.
Reelected to governor positions are Ed Begley Jr. (actors), John Bailey (cinematographers), Kathryn Bigelow (directors), Charles Fox (music), Jon Bloom (short films and feature animation), Curt Behlmer (sound), Richard Edlund (visual effects) and Robin Swicord (writers). In addition, Mark Johnson of the producers branch is returning to the board after a hiatus.
Academy’s 16 Branches
A total of 48 members now serve on the board — three each for the Academy’s 16 branches — including the most recently created one, costume designers. Representation for the makeup artists and hairstylists branch has increased from one governor to three. “There are 14 women now — the most we ever had before was nine,” prexy Koch said. “Almost 30% of our board is women.”
Koch added that the Academy a record voter turnout for the board vote, which he cited as further evidence of increased member engagement — something the organization has increased focus on in the past year. In June, AMPAS invited 276 people to join the overall Academy membership, 100 more than the previous year.
Continuing their ongoing terms on the Academy board are Annette Bening and Tom Hanks (actors), Jim Bissell (designers), Richard P. Crudo and Dante Spinotti (cinematographers), Jeffrey Kurland (costume designers), Lisa Cholodenko and Michael Mann (directors), Michael Apted and Rob Epstein (documentary), Dick Cook and Robert Rehme (executives), Mark L. Goldblatt and Michael Tronick (film editors), Leonard Engelman (makeup artists and hairstylists), Arthur Hamilton and David L. Newman (music), Gale Anne Hurd and Kathleen Kennedy (producers), Cheryl Boone Isaacs and Rob Friedman (public relations), Bill Kroyer and John Lasseter (short films and feature animation), Don Hall and Scott Millan (sound), Craig Barron and John Knoll (visual effects) and Bill Condon and Phil Robinson (writers).
The elections come approximately two weeks before the Academy board meeting that will elect a new president to succeed Koch, who will step down because of term limits. Friedman, the 2012-13 board treasurer, and Boone Isaacs, currently first vice president, are among the leading contenders.
In 2012, the Academy elected six new governors to its board — Cholodenko, Condon, Cook, Knoll, Millan and Spinotti — with several others reelected or returning after a hiatus.
Outgoing governors include Rosemary Brandenburg (designers), Anne V. Coates (film editors), Jim Gianopulos (executives), Marvin Levy (public relations), Moore and Koch (producers). In addition to Koch, the departure of Moore, who has not been shy about expressing his opinions of the eligibility criteria for the documentary Oscar, will be particularly noteworthy.
