Rich Cherry, the Chief Operating Officer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s museum project has resigned his position.
According to an Academy spokesperson, Cherry, who has been in the position for just under a year, will remain on with the project through the end of February. No reason was given for his departure.
“The Academy is grateful to Rich Cherry for his service over the past year as our Chief Operating Officer,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “During his time with the Museum, he helped guide us effectively through a critical period of construction and institutional planning. Rich will remain with the Museum through the end of February. We wish him success as he focuses on his museum consultancy firm. The Museum has begun a search for the next COO.”
Cherry joined the project last February after previously overseeing construction on The Broad museum in downtown Los Angeles.
Housed in a 300,000-square-foot facility designed by architect Renzo Piano, the Academy Museum will house gallery space, two theaters, cutting-edge project spaces, an outdoor piazza, the rooftop terrace with sweeping views of the Hollywood Hills, an active education studio, a restaurant and store within two buildings, one a giant glass sphere.
The building’s construction has been dogged by setbacks and delays since it first broke ground. The museum was originally scheduled to open in 2017, a timeline that has since been pushed back to 2019.
Oscars 2018: 8 Biggest Snubs and Surprises, From Tom Hanks to Denzel Washington (Photos)
Every year at the Academy Awards, there are inevitably certain nominees that raise eyebrows in surprise and glaring omissions that furrow those eyebrows in anger. 2018 was no different. Here are some of this year's snubs and surprises.
SURPRISE: Denzel Washington for "Roman J. Israel, Esq.": Washington's portrayal of a lawyer caught in a moral quagmire left critics lukewarm and didn't make much of an impact at the box office, yet it has earned the beloved actor his ninth Oscar nomination and sixth in the Best Actor category.
SNUB: Tom Hanks for "The Post": Many awards prognosticators expected that the Best Actor slot taken by Denzel would have gone to Tom Hanks for his portrayal of Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. Instead, Jason Robards' performance in "All The President's Men" remains the only Ben Bradlee to get an Oscar nod.
SURPRISE: Lesley Manville for "Phantom Thread": Daniel Day Lewis got much of the press for "Phantom Thread," but Manville has earned some attention for her performance as Reynolds Woodcock's devoted sister and business partner, who spends the whole film putting up with Reynolds obsessive nonsense.
SNUB: Holly Hunter for "The Big Sick": Kumail Nanjiani's true-story dramedy earned a screenplay nomination, but Hunter, who was considered an early contender for Best Supporting Actress last summer for her performance as Kumail's tough but loving future mother-in-law, ended up sliding out of the final list.
SURPRISE: Paul Thomas Anderson for "Phantom Thread": It feels weird to call it a surprise that an acclaimed filmmaker like Anderson got a nomination for Best Director, but in such a competitive field, not many awards analysts expected him to sneak in and take a nod for his work immersing audiences in Reynolds Woodcock's meticulous world. That's especially considering he managed to beat out...
SNUB: Steven Spielberg for "The Post": With its paean to journalism and not-so-subtle tweak at Donald Trump, it was expected that Academy voters would go ga-ga over "The Post." Instead, it's getting the "Selma" treatment, earning a Best Picture nomination but only getting one other nom for Meryl Streep while Spielberg misses out on an eighth Oscar nomination.
SURPRISE: "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail" for Best Documentary Feature: PBS will get a surprise nomination for their powerful recounting about how a small, family-owned bank in New York's Chinatown became the only bank prosecuted by the feds in the wake of the 2008 recession.
SNUB: "City of Ghosts" for Best Documentary Feature: Docs about the ongoing Syria crisis have been fertile ground for award winning docs like "Last Men In Aleppo" and last year's Best Short Doc winner, "The White Helmets." But the Academy didn't go for this horrifying but moving tale about Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, a team of citizen journalists reporting the abuses of ISIS at the risk of their own lives.
1 of 9
Who got robbed at the Oscars this year?
Every year at the Academy Awards, there are inevitably certain nominees that raise eyebrows in surprise and glaring omissions that furrow those eyebrows in anger. 2018 was no different. Here are some of this year's snubs and surprises.
