The Academy Awards has announced that from 2024, films hoping to win the award for Best Picture will be required to meet new representation and inclusions standards.
To qualify for the top award, a movie must now cast more black, female, gay, transgender, or disabled characters or address themes relevant to their communities.
Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement: “The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them. The Academy is committed to playing a vital role in helping make this a reality.
“We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry.”
According to the Los Angeles Times: “To be eligible for best picture, a film must meet at least two standards across four categories: ‘Onscreen Representation, Themes and Narratives,’ ‘Creative Leadership and Project Team,’ ‘Industry Access and Opportunities’ and ‘Audience Development.’ Within each category are a variety of criteria involving the inclusion of people in underrepresented groups, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and those with cognitive or physical disabilities.”
The Academy’s website outlines the requirements as follows:
To achieve Standard A, a film must meet one of the three following criteria:
First, one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors must be:
- Asian
- Hispanic/Lantinx
- Black/African American
- Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
- Middle Eastern/North African
- Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
- Other underrepresented race or ethnicity
In other words, fewer white people.
Second, at least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles must be from at least two of the following underrepresented groups:
- Women
- Racial or ethnic groups
- LGBTQ+
- People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing.
In other words, fewer straight, white, able, men.
And third, the main storyline, theme or narrative for the film must center on one of those “underrepresented groups.”
To achieve Standard B, a film must meet one of the three following criteria:
First, at least two of the creative leadership positions and department heads must be from the following groups:
- Women
- Racial or ethnic group
- LGBTQ+
- People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
At least one of the two must belong to the following non-white racial or ethnic group:
- Asian
- Hispanic/Lantinx
- Black/African American
- Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
- Middle Eastern/North African
- Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
- Other underrepresented race or ethnicity
Second, at least six other crew/team and technical positions must belong to these non-white racial or ethnic groups.
And third, at least 30% of the film’s crew is:
- Women
- Racial or ethnic group
- LGBTQ+
- People with cognitive or physical disabilities, who are deaf or hard of hearing
To achieve Standard C, a film must provide paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities for the same “underrepresented group” as well as provide them with training opportunities and skill development.
To achieve Standard D, a studio or film company must have multiple in-house senior executives who are:
- Women
- Racial or ethnic group
- Asian
- Hispanic/Latinx
- Black/African American
- Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
- Middle Eastern/North African
- Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
- Other underrepresented race or ethnicity
- LGBTQ+
- People with cognitive or physical disabilities, who are deaf or hard of hearing
There it is folks, a film that doesn’t actively discriminate against straight, white, males will no longer be eligible for an award.
And not everyone in Hollywood is excited about the new requirements either. Actress Kirstie Alley slammed the Academy in a now-deleted tweet, calling their new standards “dictatorial.”
“This is a disgrace to artists everywhere… can you imagine telling Picasso what had to be in his f***ing paintings. You people have lost your minds. Control artists, control individual thought … OSCAR ORWELL,” Alley tweeted.
“I’ve been in the motion picture Academy for 40 years. The Academy celebrates freedom of UNBRIDLED artistry expressed through movies. The new RULES to qualify for ‘best picture’ are dictatorial .. anti-artist.. Hollywood you’re swinging so far left you’re bumping into your own a**.”
Actor James Woods also hit out on Twitter, calling the new rules “insane.”
“Fun game: pick any past Best Picture winner or nominee that would NOT qualify under these insane rules, e.g. The Godfather, Saving Private Ryan, etc.”
On a positive note, nominations for Best Picture will now also double as a list of woke pictures not worth the time it takes to watch the trailer.
