The men and women responsible for the look of motion pictures are getting increasing representation within the Academy with the creation of a new Costume Designers Branch, AMPAS announced on Friday.
At the same time, the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch is being brought into parity with the rest of the Academy's branches, moving from a single governor to a full complement of three.
The moves were made on Wednesday night at a meeting of the Academy's Board of Governors, which will expand from 43 to 48 members as a result of the changes.
In the most significant change, costume designers, who were previously members of the Designers Branch, will become part of the new Costume Designers Branch, the 16th branch in the Academy.
Jeffrey Kurland, who currently serves as an Academy governor representing the Designers Branch, will become the first governor of the new branch, to be joined by two additional costume governors (plus one more governor to replace Kurland at the Designers Branch) after an election in July.
The seven-year-old Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch, the most recent AMPAS branch, has until now been represented by a single governor on the board. It will be expanded to three governors to match the other Academy branches.
"Congratulations to our members from these essential craft areas. Movies are a visual medium and costume designers, makeup artists, and hairstylists help to create images that tell stories," said Academy President Hawk Koch in an AMPAS press release announcing the changes. "This recognition is richly deserved."
In recent years, a number of other fields, from agents to casting directors to stuntmen, have also lobbied for inclusion in the Acadmy.
