Actor Alfred Molina, director Susanne Bier and animation producer/executive Bonnie Arnold have been elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors for the first time, the Academy announced on Thursday.
They will be joined on the board by another first-time member, designer Tom Duffield, and by 10 incumbent governors who were re-elected and another two who are returning to the board after a hiatus.
The re-elected incumbents are Bernard Telsey, Casting Directors Branch; Daryn Okada, Cinematographers Branch; Rory Kennedy, Documentary Branch; Jim Gianopulos, Executives Branch; Carol Littleton, Film Editors Branch; Lois Burwell, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch; Michael Giacchino, Music Branch; Scott Millan, Sound Branch; John Knoll, Visual Effects Branch; and Billy Ray, Writers Branch.
Former Academy president Sid Ganis is returning to represent the Public Relations Branch after a hiatus, as is Jeffrey Kurland in the Costume Designers Branch.
A position in the Producers Branch resulted in a tie between Jennifer Todd and Jason Blum. A runoff election will be held on June 18 and 18.
If Todd wins that seat, the number of women on the board will increase by one, to 22. If Blum wins, it will remain at 21 of the 54 members.
Molina won in an Actors Branch election whose other candidates were Brie Larson, Lou Diamond Phillips and Meg Ryan.
The only incumbent who ran but was not re-elected was costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, who lost her seat to returning governor Kurland.
Each of the Academy’s 17 branches is represented by three governors, who serve three-year terms. The terms are staggered so that one governor from each branch is up for re-election each year.
The board meets regularly during the year and, in the words of the AMPAS press release announcing the election results, “sets the Academy’s strategic vision, preserves the organization’s financial health, and assures the fulfillment of its mission.”
When the new board meets for the first time in late July or early August, its first order of business will be to elect a president. The incumbent president, John Bailey, is eligible for re-election.