Academy Invites

You are cordially invited to the Academy!

Earlier this week, the list of invitees to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was released. An invitation to the Academy means that you get to join the association and vote in the Oscars. In recent years, the Oscars have faced a lot of backlash and negativity, especially following the #OscarsSoWhite fiasco a few years ago. 

The Academy extended invitations to an all-time high number of invitees: 774! According to the Academy's website, this list consists of 57 countries, 39% female, and 30% minorities. These numbers are an increase from previous years and show the Academy is working towards their previously stated goal of a more inclusive list of members. 

However, not all critics are a fan of this list of invitees. Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter states,

The bottom line is that the Academy cannot fix the industry's diversity problems any more than a tail can wag a dog. This is not a problem that can be reverse-engineered.

While it is great that the Academy is trying to be more inclusive with their membership, what's important is the type of films being made. If the Oscars nomination committee is diverse that's great, but the films need to also be diverse. Personally, I am curious too see what slate of films are released for Oscars season. I hope there are some really good and interesting ones.

So, who got an invitation? 

Below I put together a list of some of the notable invitees that various articles, websites, etc. have pointed out. (Something I found interesting, was the amount of primarily television actors or actors that are fairly new to Hollywood films). 

Actors:

Gal Gadot, Naomie Harris, Donald Glover, Chris Hemsworth, Riz Ahmed, Dwayne Johnson, Priyanka Chopra, Leslie Jones, Betty White, Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Anna Faris, Margot Robbie, Channing Tatum, and Rupert Grint.

Directors:

Barry Jenkins, Jordan Peele, David Ayer, Theodore Melfi, Jessica Hausner, Joanna Hogg, and the Russo brothers

All of the nominees can be found HERE