It might be time to retire the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag!
After this year’s Oscars prompted a backlash over the lack of diversity—remember how the Academy failed to nominated Selma director Ava DuVernay for an Oscar for Best Director?—the Academy of Motion Picture Arts announced that a record number of women and minorities were running for seats on the board, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Among the candidates? DuVernay herself, who is challenging incumbent Michael Mann.
“It is really gratifying to see this change taking place, especially to represent the extraordinary breadth of our industry,” Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs told Deadline.
Sixty-seven candidates are running for seats on the Academy, including a record-breaking 27 women and seven minorities. According to the Hollywood Reporter, currently, there are only 14 women on the 382-member board.
But that may soon change!
The Academy is expected to conclude voting by July 2, and results are expected to come the following week.
“We keep taking steps forward, we keep moving forward,” Isaacs said. “It’s not over by any means. this is part of the initiative, and it will keep going.”
Our fingers will be crossed!