Bill Mechanic, chief executive of Pandemonium Films, has exited the board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an Academy spokesperson confirmed to TheWrap.
“The Academy thanks William Mechanic for his five years of service on the Board of Governors, where he represented the members of the Executives Branch,” the spokesperson said in a statement provided to TheWrap.
The “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Coraline” producer declined to explain the reason for his resignation to Variety, which first reported his exit on Tuesday. A representative for Mechanic did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap. The Academy spokesperson also did not immediately reply when asked why Mechanic resigned.
But in an interview in December, Mechanic was critical of the Academy’s new code of conduct addressing sexual misconduct within the industry. “This should be left to the companies people work for and to the police,” Mechanic told Vanity Fair. “Six months ago, all the moral police were silent. Was it wrong for people to be silent six months ago? Yes. Is it wrong to go overboard now? Yes. What you want is rationality to the process.”
Late last year the Academy updated its standards of conduct, vowing disciplinary action, “including suspension or expulsion,” for misconduct such as abuse of authority and power, harassment, and discrimination. The Academy enacted a new policy for reporting misconduct in January.
The Academy’s new standards were tested in March after Academy President John Bailey was accused of sexual harassment. Following an investigation, the Academy “unanimously determined” no action was warranted and that Bailey should remain in his post.
Mechanic, former top executive at Paramount, Disney and chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, most recently produced the 2017 best picture-nominated “Hacksaw Ridge” and even co-produced the awards show in 2010.
A Short History of Harvey Weinstein's Oscar Campaigns (Photos)
Indie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was fired last October from his position of co-CEO of The Weinstein Company, revolutionized the Oscar race both at TWC and his previous company, Miramax.
Harvey Weinstein first got into the Oscar race in a big way in 1990 with a "guerilla" campaign for the art-house drama "My Left Foot" by setting up meet-and-greets between Academy members and film talent. The result? Oscar wins for stars Daniel Day Lewis and Brenda Fricker.
In 1995, Weinstein mounted a surprisingly aggressive campaign for upstart director Quentin Tarantino's ultraviolent "Pulp Fiction" -- helping to redefine what sorts of movies could appeal to the Academy. Tarantino shared a screenplay Oscar with Roger Avary.
Miramax snagged its first Best Picture victory for 1996's "The English Patient" -- which earned a total of nine awards, including for director Anthony Minghella and lead actress Juliette Binoche.
Weinstein built an awareness campaign for the then-unknown Billy Bob Thornton for 1996's "Sling Blade" -- which yielded an Oscar for his adapted screenplay and a nomination for Best Actor.
Miramax pulled off a double coup with 1997's "Good Will Hunting," delivering Robin Williams his long-awaited first Oscar and a rare screenplay prize for two twentysomething newbies, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
One year later, Miramax pulled out all the stops after landing two Best Picture nominations, including for the Italian-language drama "Life Is Beautiful." According to Peter Biskind's book "Down and Dirty Pictures," star-auteur Roberto Begnini "moved into L.A. for a month during the peak of the voting period." The film came away with three Oscars, including Best Actor.
That year, Miramax pulled off a bigger upset when "Shakespeare in Love" seized Best Picture over Steven Spielberg's heavily favored "Saving Private Ryan." "Shakespeare" won a total of seven Academy Awards, including for actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Judi Dench.
Miramax surprised many by landing yet another Best Picture nomination for the 2000 Juliette Binoche-Johnny Depp bonbon "Chocolat."
In 2003, the Weinsteins had a hand in four of the five Best Picture nominees: "Chicago," "The Hours," "Gangs of New York" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (on which they had producer credits). "Chicago" won the top prize -- as well as five others.
In 2004, Miramax took advantage of a careful reading of Academy rules and scored four nominations for the Brazilian inner-city drama "City of God" -- even though the film had failed to land a Best Foreign Language film nomination the previous year.
The Weinsteins exited Disney-owned Miramax and founded their own company in 2005 -- and got right back in the Oscar race with two nominations for one of their first releases, the Felicity Huffman vehicle "Transamerica."
By 2009, The Weinstein Company landed its first Best Picture contender with "The Reader" -- and also snagged Kate Winslet her first Oscar as Best Actress in a role that many thought was more of a supporting part.
Two years later, TWC scored its first Best Picture win for "The King's Speech" -- as well as three other awards, including Best Actor for Colin Firth.
The following year, Weinstein pulled off another coup: landing five Oscars, including Best Picture for the mostly silent, black-and-white ode to Old Hollywood, "The Artist."
In 2013, TWC again had two horses in the Best Picture race: Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" and "Silver Linings Playbook" -- which landed Jennifer Lawrence the prize for Best Actress.
Last year, Weinstein successfully landed six nominations -- including Best Picture -- for Garth Davis' tear-jerker "Lion." But just as Open Road won the top prize in 2016 for "Spotlight," another upstart, A24, used a lot of Harvey touches to score the indie "Moonlight" a Best Picture win.
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This is the first Oscar season in decades without the disgraced mogul who challenged the major studios and changed the game at the Academy
Indie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was fired last October from his position of co-CEO of The Weinstein Company, revolutionized the Oscar race both at TWC and his previous company, Miramax.
