Two weeks ahead of the 96th Academy Awards, the Board of Governors of the Film Academy has voted to turn the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch into two distinct branches — the Animation Branch and the Short Films Branch.
“The Academy is dedicated to advancing and evolving with our growing global membership and with the film industry,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang announced in a joint statement Monday. “Creating distinct identities for these unique and vital components of our cinema community is part of this needed progress.”
This is the first time they will be governed as separate entities, once the decision goes into effect in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The Academy now comprises 19 branches over all factions of the film industry. The Board of Governors will remain at its current number of 55 members.
“As both the Academy’s shorts and animation communities have grown, and to ensure they continue to thrive, the need for two individual branches became increasingly apparent,” Academy Short Films and Feature Animation Branch governors Bonnie Arnold, Jinko Gotoh and Marlon West added. “We’re excited about the future of these two branches and thank our fellow governors for their support.”
The Animation Branch contains roughly 700 Academy members working within that industry. The branch will have two governor representatives on the Board of Governors and will oversee the Animated Feature Film and Animated Short Film awards.
The Short Films Branch features more than 200 Academy members in both narrative and nonfiction short capacities. There will be one governor representative on the Board of Governors to be elected for a term starting in the 2024-25 fiscal year and will oversee the Live Action Short Film award.
This year’s crop of Oscar-nominated animated and short films are currently showing in cinemas nationwide. Visit 2024 Oscar® Nominated Short Films – ShortsTV for more information on venues and tickets.
Jimmy Kimmel hosts the Oscars live on Sunday, March 10, at the new time of 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT on ABC.
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