Oscars Board Election Has New Rules - But Expect the Same Old Results

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Oscars Board Election Has New Rules – But Expect the Same Old Results

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by Steve Pond | May 29, 2020 @ 1:14 PM

Incumbents rarely need any extra help to prevail when the Academy members pick their board, but they might have gotten a boost anyway

Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences usually don’t need much help to stay the course, but the Academy may have given them a nudge in that direction by changing the rules this month in next week’s Board of Governors election.

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Instead of the usual two rounds of voting, the second being a runoff between four finalists in each branch of the Academy, members will cast ballots between June 1 and June 5 in a single election. Votes will be counted using the same preferential or ranked-choice voting system that is used to determine the Oscar winner in the Best Picture category.

The system, which is also known as instant-runoff voting, requires voters to rank the candidates in order of preference, and then narrows the field by eliminating the lowest-ranked contenders until one candidate has more than 50% of the votes. It is designed to allow voters to cast their ballots for their true favorites without worrying about wasting votes, and the process ensures that the winner will be a consensus favorite of the entire body of voters.

At the Oscars, this has allowed smaller movies like “Parasite” and “Moonlight” to win over flashier contenders like “1917” and “La La Land.” In the Board of Governors election, it could allow some dark-horse candidates to craft a consensus — but it seems likelier to benefit incumbents who have more name recognition and have appeared on the ballots many times before.

Also Read: Oscars Change Rules to Streamline Board of Governors Election

And it’s not as if incumbents need any extra help to prevail when the Academy members pick their board. The 17 branches of AMPAS are each represented by three governors, who serve three-year terms that are staggered so that one seat per branch is up for election each year. Academy rules say that a governor must take a hiatus from the board after serving three consecutive three-year terms, so every year a handful of governors are unable to run for re-election.

(In addition, one or two incumbents choose not to run again in a typical year.)

The incumbents who do run almost invariably succeed. Of the 85 governors elected over the last five years, 51 of them were either incumbents who were re-elected (42) or past governors returning to the board after a hiatus (9).

Only 11 times in those years did an incumbent governor run for re-election and lose. And only once, in 2017, did voters elect more first-time governors, 10, than returning incumbents, 6 — and that year, several incumbents who could have run chose not to do so, reducing the number of governors seeking re-election to only nine.

That 2017 election, by the way, was a historic one on several fronts: It saw the first-ever female governors elected by the Cinematographers and Sound Branches, Mandy Walker and Teri E. Dorman, as well as Whoopi Goldberg in the Actors Branch and a rare woman (and openly gay) governor in the Directors Branch, Kimberly Peirce. (All of them are eligible to run for re-election again this year.)

Also Read: New Oscars Documentary Rules Have Already Qualified More Than 90 Docs

It might have been reasonable to expect a 2017-style overhaul of the board in 2019, when the Academy had just come through a disastrously rocky year that included the board voting for a series of widely criticized changes to the Oscar show: a “Popular Oscar” award that was tabled only a month after it was announced; a decision to move four awards into the commercial breaks on the Oscar telecast, which was reversed less than two weeks before the show; and a date change that moved the 2020 show to Feb. 9, an experiment that the board decided not to repeat well before the earlier show even took place.

But the board that voted for those ill-considered changes and then rolled them out with undue haste didn’t take the fall for those decisions: Of the 11 sitting governors who ran for re-election last year, 10 of them won back their seats, and the 11th went to a runoff before losing.

At a time when they might have been expected to hold the board responsible, Academy voters simply endorsed the status quo, and the governors then extended the contract of AMPAS CEO Dawn Hudson.

Things are rocky for the Academy again this year, as they are throughout the movie industry. The hugely expensive, often-delayed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is due to open in December, but the pandemic has no doubt slowed both construction (which is largely finished) and fundraising, and big questions loom as to when crowds will feel comfortable returning to the kind of public spaces and theaters that the museum will offer.

Also Read: Oscars' Big Rule Changes: First-Run Streaming Films Now Eligible, Sound Categories Merged

If history is any indication, though, the voters, who will be able to cast ballots next week, will stick with the leadership that brought them this far. This year, 13 of the 17 governors whose terms are ending are runing for re-election, a group that includes Goldberg from the Actors Branch, Peirce from the Directors Branch, Charles Bernstein from the Music Branch and Larry Karaszewski from the Writers Branch.

Others running are cinematographer Walker, sound editor Dorman, costume designer Isis Mussenden, documentary editor Kate Amend, executive David Linde, public relations director Christina Kounelias, animator Tom Sito, production designer Wynn P. Thomas and VFX supervisor Richard Edlund.

Three governors can’t run: Michael Tronick from the Film Editors Branch, who has served the maximum three consecutive three-year terms, beginning in 2011; and Lora Kennedy from the Casting Directors Branch and Kathryn L. Blondell from the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch, neither of whom has served the full nine years but both of whom are falling victim to a wrinkle in the rules.

Also Read: All the Awards Shows That Have Been Canceled, Postponed or Made Rule Changes Because of Coronavirus

The Casting Directors Branch was created in 2013, and Kennedy was elected to a one-year term in a special election that fall, and then re-elected to her first three-year term the following spring. The Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch was expanded from one to three governors in 2013, and Blondell also came on the board for a single year before winning a three-year term in 2014. So while both women have only served seven years on the board, a new term would put them at 10 years, one past the AMPAS limit; hence, they’ve termed out two years early.

One other governor, Albert Berger from the Producers Branch, could have run for what would have been his third term, but declined to do so because he supports a six-year term limit on Academy governors.

The election also has the potential to change the number of women and people of color on the board, which is currently at an all-time high of 25 women (compared to 29 men) and 11 people of color. Of the seats that will be up for grabs, nine currently belong to women and eight to men, while nonwhite board members whose seats are open include Goldberg and Thomas.

In a time of profound change in Hollywood and at the Oscars, which will consolidate the two sound categories and allow streaming premieres to compete for the first time, will the new rules help the Board of Governors undergo a transformation as well?

It’s possible, but history suggests otherwise. A longtime veteran of the Academy Awards telecast once told me that making changes in the Academy was like turning an aircraft carrier at sea — it doesn’t happen easily. And even if the new voting system streamlines the process of voting, it probably won’t change the result.

All the Movies Suspended or Delayed Due to Coronavirus Pandemic (Updating)

As the coronavirus continues to spread, an increasing number of movies are delaying or suspending production. As the number of impacted movies grows, TheWrap felt it would be most informative to keep a running list.
Disney/MGM/Warner Bros.
"No Time to Die"

MGM, Universal and Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of "No Time to Die" will be postponed until November 2020.
Photo credit: Universal
"A Quiet Place Part II"

Director John Krasinski announced on Instagram that the horror sequel's March theatrical release would be delayed amid the growing spread of the coronavirus around the globe. Paramount has now dated the film for release on Sept. 4.
Photo credit: Paramount
“Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway”

"Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway" was one of the first films delayed as part of the coronavirus, with Sony pushing its late March release to Aug. 7. But as the shutdowns continued, Sony juggled its release slate so that the family film will now open Jan. 15, 2021.
Photo credit: Sony
"Fast and Furious 9"

The release of the next “Fast & Furious” installment, “F9,” has been delayed from May 22 to now opening on April 2, 2021.
Photo credit: Universal
"The Lovebirds"

Paramount postponed the April 3 theatrical release of the romantic comedy “The Lovebirds" starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani after its SXSW premiere was also canceled. Netflix then acquired the film from Paramount and debuted it on May 22.
Paramount/Netflix
"Blue Story"

Paramount postponed the theatrical release UK gang film "Blue Story," which was set to open on March 20. The film then premiered on digital on May 5.
Photo credit: Paramount
"The Artist's Wife"

Strand Releasing and Water's End Productions delayed the limited release of the Bruce Dern and Lena Olin film "The Artist's Wife." The film was meant to open in New York on April 3 in Los Angeles on April 10 and in San Francisco on April 17. No new release date has been set.
Strand Releasing
"The Truth"

Hirokazu Kore-eda's film "The Truth" from IFC Films will postpone its March 20 domestic release to now open at an unspecified date in summer 2020. The film is in both French and English starring Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche and Ethan Hawke and has already opened in some overseas markets. IFC Films has set a new release date for July 3.
IFC Films
"Mulan"

Disney postponed the release of its blockbuster, live-action remake of the animated film "Mulan" from March 27 to now open on July 24. The shift was part of a big shuffle of films Disney made to its release calendar on April 3.
Disney
"The New Mutants"

After numerous delays, 20th Century's X-Men spinoff "The New Mutants" was also pushed back by Disney "out of an abundance of caution." The film from director Josh Boone was meant to open April 3. The film will now open Aug. 28, 2020.
20th Century Studios
"Antlers"

"Antlers," an indie horror film from director Scott Cooper starring Keri Russell, was also pushed back by Disney and Searchlight Pictures from its April 17 release. No new release date has been set.
Searchlight Pictures
"Black Widow" and the MCU

In a restructuring of its entire release calendar, Disney pushed back every Marvel movie in the cinematic universe. "Black Widow" was meant to open on May 1, but will now shift back to the slot previously occupied by "The Eternals" on Nov. 6.“Eternals” is moving to February 12, 2021, “Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings” will open May 7, 2021, and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is shifting to Nov. 5, 2021. The changes also affected Marvel's slate for 2022 with “Thor: Love and Thunder” opening Feb. 18, 2022, “Black Panther 2” shifting to May 8, 2022, and “Captain Marvel 2,” which was not previously dated, is now set for a July 8, 2022 release.
Marvel
Untitled Elvis Movie

Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic starring Austin Butler ceased production in Australia after co-star Tom Hanks (playing Presley manager Col. Parker) and his wife, Rita Wilson, tested positive for COVID-19. The planned release date was also bumped back one month to now open Nov. 5, 2021.
Getty Images
"Mission: Impossible 7 and 8"

In late February, Paramount's action sequel halted production in Italy on the Tom Cruise action sequel. Paramount on April 24 also bumped the release dates of both films, with "M:I 7" moving to November 19, 2021 from its July 2021 release date, and the eighth film also moving back to Nov. 4, 2022 from its summer release.
Paramount Pictures
"The Nightingale"

Sony postponed the Budapest shoot of the drama starring real-life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning.
Getty Images
"Birds of Paradise"

Amazon Studios halted production in Budapest on director Sarah Adina Smith's ballet drama.
Getty Images
"Jurassic World: Dominion"

Universal put a pause on production on the third "Jurassic World" in March after four weeks of shooting had been completed in the UK for a 20-week shoot. Production will resume on July 6, and the film is expected to be released on June 11, 2021.
Universal Pictures
"Flint Strong"

Universal also halted production on this boxing biopic starring Ice Cube and Ryan Destiny.
Getty Images
"Man From Toronto"

Sony delayed the start of production on the action comedy starring Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson (who stepped in to replace Jason Statham).
"Official Competition"

Spanish studio Mediapro suspended production on the new comedy starring Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.
Getty Images
"The Batman"

On March 14, Warner Bros. halted the U.K. production on Matt Reeve's DC Films reboot for at least two weeks. The film stars Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader. On April 20, Warner Bros. officially shifted the release date back four months to Oct. 1 from its originally planned June 2021 release date. The shift also pushed back some other DC titles, including "The Flash" to June 3, 2022 and "Shazam 2!" to Nov. 4, 2022.
Warner Bros.
"Samaritan"

On March 14, MGM paused production on the Sylvester Stallone thriller. The film had been shooting in Atlanta.
Getty Images
"Cinderella"

Sony's modernized take on "Cinderella" from director Kay Cannon and starring Camila Cabello will put its production on hiatus due to the travel ban extension to the UK. The film was shooting at Pinewood Studios.
Getty Images
"Fantastic Beasts 3"

The third installment of J.K. Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts" series that's spun off from the Harry Potter universe will postpone its production that was scheduled to begin in March in the U.K. The film stars Eddie Redmayne, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Katherine Waterston.
Warner Bros.
"The Matrix 4"

Production on "The Matrix 4" was temporarily put on hold in March, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap. The sequel starring Keanu Reeves was in production in Berlin, Germany.
Warner Bros.
"First Cow"

After releasing Kelly Reichardt's "First Cow" in limited release on March 6, the distributor announced Monday it will re-release the film in theaters later this year.
A24
"Deerskin"

The theatrical release of the indie film "Deerskin" from director Quentin Dupieux starring Jean Dujardin has been postponed until further notice. Greenwich Entertainment meant to release the film on March 20 after it played at Cannes, TIFF and Fantastic Fest. The movie will now open via a virtual cinema offering on May 1.
Greenwich Entertainment
"Uncharted"

“Uncharted,” the film adaptation of the popular PlayStation video game franchise starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, and Antonio Banderas, was unable to begin production in March amid coronavirus concerns. As part of a larger shuffle of Sony's release slate, the most recent release date for the film was also shifted back from March 2021 to Oct. 8, 2021.
Getty Images/Naughty Dog
"The Climb"

Sony Pictures Classics' indie comedy "The Climb," which played at Sundance this year, was meant to hit theaters March 20 and will now be released on Oct. 9.
Sony Pictures Classics
"Avatar"

The sequels to James Cameron's four "Avatar" sequels delayed shooting in New Zealand indefinitely, according to the film's producer Jon Landau speaking to the New Zealand Herald. The executive team was to fly to Wellington, NZ on Friday but will remain in Los Angeles due to the coronavirus. Landau said he couldn't give an answer as to when production would resume and when the local Kiwi crew could get back to work. "If I told you we are going to know something in two weeks I'd be lying. I might not be wrong - even a broken clock is right twice a day. But I would be lying because I don't know," Landau said. "We're in the midst of a global crisis and this is not about the film industry. I think everybody needs to do now whatever we can do, as we say here, to flatten the curve."
20th Century Studios
"The Personal History of David Copperfield"

Searchlight Studios was meant to release "Veep" creator Armando Iannucci's comedic take on the Charles Dickens novel on May 8. It will now open in limited release on August 14.
Searchlight Pictures
"The Woman in the Window"

The Amy Adams mystery thriller from director Joe Wright, "The Woman in the Window" was meant to open in theaters on May 15 from 20th Century Studios. No new release date has been set.
20th Century Studios
"Bull"

The theatrical release of the Annie Silverstein indie drama "Bull" was postponed from its March 20 release and will now open on VOD and digital on May 1. The film has toured the festival circuit since making its debut at Cannes in 2019.
Samuel Goldwyn Films
"Minions: The Rise of Gru"

The latest "Minions" movie "The Rise of Gru" was postponed from its release date on July 3. Illumination Entertainment's Paris office was forced to shut down due to the coronavirus, so the film was not able to be finished in time. Universal will release the film on July 2, 2021, a full year after its initial date.
Universal
"Wonder Woman 1984"

The sequel to "Wonder Woman" starring Gal Gadot will now hit theaters on Oct. 2 after first being pushed back from its June 5 release date and again from Aug. 12.
Warner Bros.
"In the Heights"

The movie musical based on Lin-Manuel Miranda's stage production "In the Heights" was postponed by Warner Bros. from its June 26 release date and bumped to June 18, 2021.
Warner Bros.
"Malignant"

"Malignant," a horror film from director James Wan, was pushed indefinitely from its release date on Aug. 14 to clear the way for "Wonder Woman 1984" to open at the tail end of the summer.
Getty Images
"Peter Rabbit 2," "Morbius" and "Ghostbusters: Afterlife"

In a sweeping overhaul of its release slate, Sony moved three films it had scheduled for release this summer to the first quarter of 2021. The "Peter Rabbit" sequel will now be released in January 2021 while both "Morbius" and "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" have been moved to next March.
Sony
"Greyhound"

Sony has moved a WWII drama written by and starring Tom Hanks off of its mid-June release date and partnered with Apple to release the film on Apple TV+ in early July.
Sony
"Wicked"

Universal has removed the movie musical adaptation of “Wicked” from its release slate from its original date on Dec. 22, 2021, and will be redated at a later time.
Getty Images
"Sing 2"

Illumination’s “Sing 2” will now open in the place vacated by “Wicked” on Universal's release slate on Dec. 22, 2021.
Illumination
"Top Gun: Maverick"

The sequel to the 1985 hit starring Tom Cruise has been pushed back from June 24 to December 23, 2020.
Paramount
"Candyman"

Universal's horror film "Candyman" from director Nia DaCosta and produced by Jordan Peele will move from its June 12 release date to Sept. 25, 2020.
Universal
"Praise This"

The Will Packer-produced musical comedy "Praise This" about a church choir was delayed from its Sept. 25 release date and will be re-added to the slate by Universal at a later date.
Photographed by Ian Spanier for TheWrap
"The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run"

Paramount originally shifted the animated "Spongebob" movie from its release date on May 22 to open on August 7, but it will now debut in early 2021 on premium VOD followed by the rebranded CBS All Access.
Paramount Animation
"Jungle Cruise"

With the shift of "Mulan," Disney moved the release of the Dwayne Johnson adventure comedy "Jungle Cruise" back a full year to July 30, 2021.
Disney
"Free Guy"

The Ryan Reynolds video game comedy was meant to open July 3 but will now open Dec. 11.
20th Century Fox/Disney
"The French Dispatch"

Director Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” moved from July 24, 2020 to Oct. 16, 2020 as part of Disney's shift of its entire release calendar.
Searchlight Pictures
Untitled Indiana Jones

The fifth Indiana Jones movie starring Harrison Ford has already shifted its release date in response to Disney's wave of other release changes. It will now open July 29, 2022.
Paramount
"Nobody"

Universal's "Nobody," a revenge thriller and action movie starring Bob Odenkirk from the writer of "John Wick" and the producers of "Atomic Blonde," was delayed from its Aug. 14, 2020 release date to now open on Feb. 26, 2021. As a result, an untitled M. Night Shyamalan thriller that was slated for that day is now undated and will be re-added to the calendar later.
Photograph by Steven Gerlich for TheWrap
"Soul" and "Raya and the Last Dragon"

Disney and Pixar's "Soul" was moved from its June release date to open on Nov. 20. It's now opening near where the Disney Animation Studios film "Raya and the Last Dragon" was meant to open. That movie will now debut March 12, 2021. It filled the slot of an unnamed Disney live-action film that has now been removed from the slate.
Walt Disney Studios/Pixar
"Infinite"

The latest film from director Antoine Fuqua starring Mark Wahlberg, "Infinite," was pushed back by Paramount from its Aug. 7 release date to now open on Memorial Day weekend, May 28, 2021. The film is currently in post-production, and while "Infinite" wasn't explicitly pushed back due to the coronavirus, the new date allows the studio more time to ramp up the film's original intellectual property.
Getty Images
"The Many Saints of Newark"

The prequel to "The Sopranos" that follows a young Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini's son Michael Gandolfini, during the 1960s Newark riots was pushed to 2021, now opening on March 12, 2021 after originally being slated for a September 2020 release.
Getty Images
"King Richard"

The biopic about the life of tennis great Richard Williams starring Will Smith was pushed from its November 2020 release date to now opening almost a full year later on Nov. 19, 2021.
Getty Images
"Venom: Let There Be Carnage"

While the "Venom" sequel did get a new title from Sony in its latest update, "Let There Be Carnage," it also found itself pushed back from an October release to now open on June 25, 2021.
Sony
"Dungeons & Dragons"

Paramount's movie based on the "Dungeons & Dragons" game from the directors of "Game Night," John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, has been delayed from a November 2021 release date to May 27, 2022.
Getty Images
"Spell"

Paramount's horror film starring Omari Hardwick that was set for release in August of this year was pulled from the release calendar, with no new date set as of yet.
Starz
"John Wick: Chapter 4"

The fourth movie in the Keanu Reeves action franchise "John Wick" was moved back a full year to now open May 27, 2022. Lionsgate also juggled several of its other big releases to 2021 and 2022, including "Fatale" (10/30/20), "Voyagers" (11/25/20), "The Asset" (4/23/21), "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar" (7/16/21), "The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard" (8/20/21) and "American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story" (12/10/21). Further, the films "Run" and "Jesus Revolution" are both without release dates.
Lionsgate
"Antebellum"

Lionsgate's horror movie "Antebellum" starring Janelle Monáe was moved from its April release date to now being the studio's next most earliest release in 2020 on Aug. 21.
Lionsgate
"The Forever Purge"

The fifth film in "The Purge" horror franchise was meant to open in theaters on July 10 of this year but was pulled from the release calendar. No new date has been set as of yet.
Universal
"Kajillionaire"

"Kajillionaire," the latest film from director Miranda July that made its debut at Sundance and stars Debra Winger, Richard Jenkins and Evan Rachel Wood, has been pushed from its planned June release date to now open Sept. 18, 2020. However, the film will still open theatrically in a limited release.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute/Focus Features
"Everybody's Talking About Jamie"

20th Century Studios' adaptation of the stage musical about a teenage drag queen stars Max Harwood and Richard E. Grant. It was meant to open Oct. 23, 2020 but will now open Jan. 22, 2021.
Getty Images
"The Beatles: Get Back"

"The Beatles: Get Back," a documentary from Peter Jackson about the Fab Four's time recording the "Let It Be" album and culminating in their historic rooftop concert, was pushed back from a fall release on Sept. 4, 2020 to now open Aug. 27, 2021.
Photo Courtesy of Apple Corps Ltd.
"The Broken Hearts Gallery"

Selena Gomez-produced rom-com “The Broken Hearts Gallery” is the story of Lucy, a 20-something art gallery assistant living in New York who, after her latest breakup, decides to create a pop-up art space of artifacts from past relationships. The film which was scheduled to be released on Aug. 7, has been pulled from the release schedule with its release date to be determined.
"Greenland"

“Greenland,” a disaster thriller which stars Gerard Butler, along with the rest of humanity, tries to escape a massive comet that threatens to make all life on Earth extinct. Originally scheduled to be released on August 14, the film has been pushed a month to September 25.

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Release slates for 2021 and beyond are taking shape as studios look to write off summer 2020

As the coronavirus continues to spread, an increasing number of movies are delaying or suspending production. As the number of impacted movies grows, TheWrap felt it would be most informative to keep a running list.

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