Academy’s Animation And VFX Branches Lag Behind Other Branches In Membership Invites To Women

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, has invited 819 artists, filmmakers, and executives to join its organization.

Among the Academy’s 17 branches, there are two related to Cartoon Brew’s areas of coverage: Short Films & Feature Animation and Visual Effects. In the former branch, the Academy invited 81 people (25 fewer than last year), while in the latter branch, 48 people were invited (18 fewer). Combined, these people represent just over 15% of the total number invited this year — a low percentage compared to recent years. However, the figures still represent a significant long-term expansion of these branches (for example, in 2011, the Academy invited just 13 people into the animation branch; in 2015, only 20).

In 2016, facing heavy criticism over the lack of diversity in its membership, the Academy set itself the goal of doubling the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020. It has met that target: across all branches, 45% of new invitees are female, 36% non-white.

But animation and vfx lag behind. Strikingly, women account for just over one in three invitees to the Short Films & Feature Animation branch, and only around one in eight for Visual Effects. That won’t come as a huge surprise to observers of these industries, where women continue to be denied equal opportunity, despite progress. Last year’s invitees in these branches were predominantly male, too.

We can debate whether these numbers say more about systemic problems in the industry or the Academy’s uneven application of its own diversity program. In any case, the Academy has launched a new initiative, Academy Aperture 2025, that aims to build on its progress over the next five years. New policies include “new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility,” and unconscious bias training for Academy leaders and staff.

While neither the animation and vfx branches invited more women than men or could claim that the majority of their candidates were from “underrepresented ethnic/racial commmunities,” as some of the other branches could, they were among the 13 Academy branches who invited the majority of their candidates from international regions this year.

Below are the full lists of people invited to join the Short Films & Feature Animation and Visual Effects branches. The former branch includes filmmakers involved in live-action shorts. An asterisk denotes that the person has been invited to join the Academy by multiple branches, and must select one branch upon accepting membership.

Short Films & Feature Animation

• Frank E. Abney – Incredibles 2, Coco
• Mounia Akl – Submarine, Eva
• Dekel Berenson – Anna, Ashmina
• Lorelay Bove – Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph
• Jamaal Bradley – The Croods, Puss in Boots
• Colin Brady – Everyone’s Hero, A Bug’s Life
• Gary Bruins – Inside Out, Up
• Matthew A. Cherry – Hair Love, Forward
• Sue-Ellen Chitunya – Grandpa’s Hands, Team Marilyn
• Jérémy Clapin* – I Lost My Body, Palmipédarium
• Bruno Collet – Memorable, Son Indochine
• Josh Cooley – Toy Story 4, Inside Out
• Emanuela Cozzi – Paranorman, The Prince of Egypt
• BJ Crawford – The Peanuts Movie, Ice Age: Continental Drift
• Philip Dale – Kubo and the Two Strings, Coraline
• Everett Downing – Hair Love, WALL-E
• Marc du Pontavice – I Lost My Body, Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie
• Robert Ducey – Kubo and the Two Strings, Coraline
• Sonya Dunn – End of the World, The Bedroom
• Fabian Erlinghauser – Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells
• Jean-Loup Felicioli – Phantom Boy, A Cat in Paris
• Giovanna Ferrari – The Breadwinner, Song of the Sea
• José David Figueroa García – Perfidia, Ratitas
• Michael Ford – The Angry Birds Movie 2, Hotel Transylvania
• Alain Gagnol – Phantom Boy, A Cat in Paris
• Maryann Garger – Astro Boy, Flushed Away
• Axel Geddes – Toy Story 4, Finding Dory
• Delphine Girard – A Sister, Caverne
• Philippe Gluckman – Rise of the Guardians, Antz
• Ian Gooding – Moana, The Princess and the Frog
• Oscar Grillo – Monsters, Inc., Monsieur Pett
• Otto Guerra – City of Pirates, Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock’n’Roll
• Patrick Hanenberger – Smallfoot, Rise of the Guardians
• Aaron Hartline – Up, Robots
• Deborah Haywood – Twinkle, Twinkle, Sis
• Sabine Heller – The Peanuts Movie, Rio
• Isabel Herguera – Winter Love, Under the Pillow
• Lizzy Hobbs – The Flounder, I’m OK
• Faren Humes – Liberty, Our Rhineland
• Mino Jarjoura – Saria, Asad
• Marcel Jean – Sleeping Betty, La Pirouette
• Meryam Joobeur – Brotherhood, Born in the Maelstrom
• Daria Kashcheeva – Daughter, To Accept
• Paul Kewley – Early Man, Shaun the Sheep Movie
• Anita Killi – Angry Man, The Hedge of Thorns
• Sayoko Kinoshita – A Little Journey, Pica Don
• Michelle Kranot – Nothing Happens, Hollow Land
• Uri Kranot – Nothing Happens, Hollow Land
• Ka’ramuu Kush – Sundays at Noon, Salvation Road
• Jean-François Le Corre – Memorable, This Magnificent Cake!
• Hyun-min Lee – Moana, Big Hero 6
• Matt Lefebvre – Saria, Asad
• Eric Leighton – Coraline, The Nightmare before Christmas
• Niki Lindroth von Bahr – Something to Remember,The Burden
• Andy London – I’m in the Mood for Death, The Back Brace
• Summer Joy Main-Muñoz – Don’t Say No, La Cerca
• Damien Megherbi – Nefta Football Club, Wicked Girl
• Deanna Morse – Recipe for Birds, Whispers of the Prairie
• Bob Moyer – Toy Story 4, Up
• Mark Nielsen – Toy Story 4, Inside Out
• Wanjiru M. Njendu – Boxed, The Dinner Guest
• Justin Pechberty – Nefta Football Club, Wicked Girl
• Amy Pfaffinger – Moana, Frozen
• Yves Piat – Nefta Football Club, Tempus Fugit
• Julia Pistor – The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
• Charlotte Regan – My Boy, Standby
• Milo Riccarand – The Secret Life of Pets, Despicable Me
• Stéphan Roelants – The Breadwinner, Song of the Sea
• Kirsikka Saari – After the Reunion, Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?
• Ahmad Saleh – Ayny, Maa Baa
• Dan Scanlon – Onward, Monsters University
• Sheila Sofian – Survivors, Secret Rage
• Jason Stalman – Isle of Dogs, Kubo and the Two Strings
• Colin Stimpson – The Secret Life of Pets, We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story
• Chris Sullivan – Consuming Spirits, Ain’t Misbehavin!
• Amos Sussigan – Swan Cake, Broken Wing
• Michael J. Travers – The Peanuts Movie, Ice Age
• Saschka Unseld – The Blue Umbrella, Toy Story 3
• Eric Wachtman – Kubo and the Two Strings, Coraline
• Fusako Yusaki – The Rose of the Winds, Winter Days
• Juan Pablo Zaramella – Luminaris, The Glove

Visual Effects

• David Alexander – Cliffs of Freedom, The Laundromat
• Jon Franklin Alexander – Avengers: Age of Ultron, Noah
• Vishal Anand – Bharat, War
• Berj Bannayan – John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Geostorm
• John Bell – Rango, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• Tami Carter – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Lucy
• Ahdee Chiu – The Wandering Earth, The Last Stand
• Ryan Michael Church – Transformers: The Last Knight, Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Todd Constantine – Jumanji: The Next Level, Godzilla: King of the Monsters
• Ryan Cook – The Call of the Wild, Rampage
• Karin Margarete Cooper – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Kong: Skull Island
• Dan Cox – The A-Team, Gulliver’s Travels
• Nick Marc Epstein – Alita: Battle Angel, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
• Leandro Estebecorena – The Irishman, Kong: Skull Island
• Luca Fascione – Alita: Battle Angel, Avengers: Endgame
• Greg Fisher – The Jungle Book, Guardians of the Galaxy
• Aaron Gilman – Alpha, Pacific Rim Uprising
• Stephane Grabli – The Irishman, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
• Darin Grant – The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Kung Fu Panda 2
• Jeremy Hays – The Call of the Wild, Once upon a Time…in Hollywood
• Sandeep Kamal – Panipat, Jal
• Sidney Olivier Kombo-Kintombo – Avengers: Endgame, War for the Planet of the Apes
• Hoiyue Harry Lam – Midway, The Wandering Earth
• Mårten Larsson – Avengers: Endgame, Pixels
• Patrick Ledda – Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
• Gong Myung Lee – Triple Frontier, Deadpool 2
• Richard Little – 1917, The Jungle Book
• Doug Moore – 12 Strong, Ant-Man
• Elliot Newman – The Lion King, The Jungle Book
• Artemis Oikonomopoulou – Annihilation, Thor: Ragnarok
• Mihaela Orzea – Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Huntsman: Winter’s War
• Mike Anthony Perry – Alita: Battle Angel, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
• Todd Sheridan Perry – Black Panther, Doctor Strange
• Nick Rasmussen – Ready Player One, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Marco Revelant – Gemini Man, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Jason Schugardt – Clown, In the Blood
• David Seager – Aladdin, Terminator: Dark Fate
• Amy Shepard – Playing with Fire, Doctor Strange
• Bill Spitzak – Abominable, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
• Olcun Tan – Doctor Sleep, Thor: Ragnarok
• Dmitry Tokoyakov – Beyond the Edge, Furious
• James Tooley – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Leandro Visconti – Lion’s Heart, The Innocents
• Paige Warner – Terminator: Dark Fate, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
• Matt Welford – A Dog’s Way Home, Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Victor Wong – The Founding of an Army, Rise of the Legend
• Max Wood – The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Suicide Squad
• Ged Wright – Sonic the Hedgehog, 22 July