Only diverse films will be considered for Best Picture at the Oscars
The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences has laid out a strict new rule which the organisation hopes will go far in tackling the lack of diversity in every area of Hollywood. From 2024, for a film to be considered in the Best Picture category at the Oscars, it will have to fulfil these new diversity requirements.
There will be four categories in which the movies will be marked under and for a film to pass, it will need to tick off two. The categories are: on screen; among the crew; at the studio; and in opportunities for training and advancement in other aspects of the film’s development and release. There will also be stricter and more detailed requirements within each of these categories, and through this, the Academy will attempt to address diversity issues within gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and disability.
Hollywood, and the Oscars specifically, has long been criticised for its lack of diversity in all of these categories, something which the Academy is hoping will be dramatically altered with this new rule.
"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," David Rubin, the Academy president, and CEO Dawn Hudson said together in a written statement. "We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry."
This is not the first step taken by the Academy to diversify. In July, the organisation announced that it was inviting 819 new members onto the board in an attempt to diversity voting. These names included; Zendaya, Eva Longoria, Awkwafina, Cynthia Erivo, John David Washington and Constance Wu.
Of the new invitees, 36 per cent are people of colour and 45 per cent are women. These members will have voting privileges at the upcoming Academy Awards (set to take place in April 2021), but the new rules regarding Best Picture nominations will not come into place until 2024.
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