Oscars academy sets out new diversity standards for best picture contenders
LOS ANGELES — The body that hands out the Academy Awards on Tuesday published detailed inclusion and diversity guidelines that filmmakers will have to meet in order for their work to be eligible for a best picture Oscar, starting in 2024.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has been criticized for honoring few movies and creators of color, said the standards represent a new phase of a five-year effort to promote diversity on and off screen.
The rules lay out percentages or numbers of actors, production staff, marketing staff and internships on a movie that must be filled by people of color, women, people with disabilities or people from the LGBTQ community.
The rules will not apply to films vying for Oscars at the next ceremony in 2021, but movies that want to be considered eligible for a best picture nomination at the 2024 Oscars will have to meet two of the four new standards, the Academy said.
The four standards cover diversity representation among actors and subject matter; behind-the-camera staff, such as cinematographers and costume designers; paid apprenticeships and training opportunities; and marketing and publicity.
Criticism of the film academy intensified in 2016 with the social media hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, a backlash against two consecutive years of an all-white field of acting contenders. — Reuters
