Academy Elects Ava DuVernay, Whoopie Goldberg to 2020-2021 Board of Governors
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has elected its 2020-2021 Board of Governors, with 10 incumbents returning to positions on the board and six new governors elected for the first time. Ava DuVernay is joining the board for the first time, and Whoopie Goldberg is returning.
As a result of this election, the number of female Academy governors increases from 25 to 26, and people of color increase from 11 to 12 and include the three governors-at-large.
The 17 branches of AMPAS are each represented by three governors, who serve three-year terms that are staggered so that one seat per branch is up for election each year. Academy rules say that a governor must take a hiatus from the board after serving three consecutive three-year terms, so every year a handful of governors are unable to run for re-election.
*Also Read:* Oscars Board Election Has New Rules - But Expect the Same Old Results
The incumbents who run almost invariably succeed. Of the 85 governors elected over the last five years, 51 of them were either incumbent (42) or past governors returning to the board after a hiatus (nine).
Only 11 times in those years did an incumbent governor run for re-election and lose. And only once, in 2017, did voters elect more first-time governors (10) than returning incumbents (six) — and that year, several incumbents who could have run chose not to do so, reducing the number of governors seeking re-election to only nine.
Newly Elected to the Board for the first time:
Debra Zane, Casting Directors Branch
Ava DuVernay, Directors Branch
Stephen Rivkin, Film Editors Branch
Linda Flowers, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch
Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers Branch
Rob Bredow, Visual Effects Branch
Incumbent governors reelected to the Board:
Whoopi Goldberg, Actors Branch
Mandy Walker, Cinematographers Branch
Isis Mussenden, Costume Designers Branch
Kate Amend, Documentary Branch
David Linde, Executives Branch
Christina Kounelias, Marketing and Public Relations Branch
Charles Bernstein, Music Branch
Wynn P. Thomas, Production Design Branch
Teri E. Dorman, Sound Branch
Larry Karaszewski, Writers Branch
Returning to the Board after a hiatus:
Jon Bloom, Short Films and Feature Animation Branch
*Related stories from TheWrap:*
David Oyelowo Says 'Selma' Was Snubbed by Oscars After Voters Complained About Cast's 'I Can't Breathe' Shirts
Whoopi Goldberg Faces Challenge From Richard Dreyfuss, Rita Wilson in Oscars' Board of Governors Election
Oscars Board Election Has New Rules – But Expect the Same Old Results
