Welcome to the Academy. 10 Interesting Invitations
Thursday, June 26, 2014 at 4:10PM The Academy welcomes its new members at an invite only event in September, just as we begin to feel the rumblings of Oscar buzz everywhere.
While not every person nominated for the first time for an Oscar in any given year is invited to join the next year (isn't that weird?) it's common practice that they are. So new names like Lupita Nyong'o, Barkhad Abdi, and more established actors like Sally Hawkins and June Squibb will all be voting for the first time this coming season after walking the red carpets as nominees. That's expected. What's far more interesting is the people invited in any given year that have not been nominated.
Here are ten names I want to highlight because they're interesting invitations for one reason or another.
Sean Bobbitt - Cinematographer (12 Years a Slave) - egregiously snubbed last year which might have done it but that's not his only beautifully shot film. He also filmed Hunger and Shame and The Place Beyond the Pines. contributing much to their moods and power.
Bradford Young - Cinematographer (Pariah, Mother of George, Aint Them Bodies Saints, Middle of Nowhere) one of the brightest stars among newer DPs. The Academy could not have chosen better. He's just brilliant.
Denis Villeneuve - Director (Prisoners, Enemy) Surprised this Canadian hasn't been invited previously given that Incendies was nominated in Foreign Film. Technically speaking the director isn't an official nominee when a movie is nominated for Foreign Language Film but here at TFE we consider it to be so since the Director accepts and sometimes keeps the Oscar.
Sonja Klaus - Production Designer/Set Decorator (The Counselor, Prometheus)- she's done pretty great work for Ridley Scott several times as well as work on big popcorn movies like X-Men First Class and the Lara Croft movies.
Casting Directors In General - 22 of them were invited (!!!) which leads me to believe AMPAS is seriously considering finally adding a Casting Oscar. People have been complaining that there isn't one within the industry for some time.
Paul Rudnick -Writer. Rudnick was such an endearing and important comic voice in the 90s (Addams Family Values, Jeffrey, In & Out) but his last feature film credit was literally The Stepford Wives ten whole years ago. So why now for the Motion Picture Academy? I don't begrudge him any honors but he doesn't even work in movies any more. (though his first project in ten years is supposedly due this year, a TV movie with Bette Midler).
Casting Directors In General - 22 of them were invited (!!!) which leads me to believe AMPAS is seriously considering finally adding a Casting Oscar. People have been complaining that there isn't one within the industry for some time.
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor - This costume designer has never been nominated despite a filmography that includes films of wildly varied genres: Vanity Fair, Aeon Flux, Great Expectations, Brothers Bloom, To Die For and many more so she's versatile. But I'm highlighting her mostly because Nick and I like saying her name to each other. (Long story)
Josh Hutcherson in "Mockingjay Part 1" / Ben Foster in "Lone Survivor"
Josh Hutcherson & Ben Foster - Actors. Sometimes the actor invitations are real head scratchers when it comes to timing. Aren't we a bit premature on Josh (please note: I like him as an actor) and aren't we super duper late to the party on Ben Foster who has been quite acclaimed for some time. Was it Lone Survivor that did it? These things are puzzling because if you didn't want to invite him after 3:10 to Yuma what the hell is wrong with you?
Beth Grant - Actress (Small Role Goddess of Limitless Indies / Mainstream Efforts)
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion."
The full press release from the Academy is after the jump.
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 271 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2014.
“This year’s class of invitees represents some of the most talented, creative and passionate filmmakers working in our industry today,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “Their contributions to film have entertained audiences around the world, and we are proud to welcome them to the Academy.”
The 2014 invitees are:
Actors
Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”
Clancy Brown – “The Hurricane,” “The Shawshank Redeption”
Paul Dano – “12 Years a Slave,” “Prisoners”
Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”
Ben Foster – “Lone Survivor,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”
Beth Grant – “The Artist,” “No Country for Old Men”
Clark Gregg – “Much Ado about Nothing,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine,” “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Josh Hutcherson – “The Hunger Games,” “The Kids Are All Right”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – “Enough Said,” “Planes”
Kelly Macdonald – “Brave,” “No Country for Old Men”
Mads Mikkelsen – “The Hunt,” “Casino Royale”
Joel McKinnon Miller – “Super 8,” “The Truman Show”
Cillian Murphy – “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Inception”
Lupita Nyong'o – “Non-Stop,” “12 Years a Slave”
Rob Riggle – “21 Jump Street,” “The Hangover”
Chris Rock – “Grown Ups 2,” “Madagascar”
June Squibb – “Nebraska,” “About Schmidt”
Jason Statham – “Parker,” “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”
David Strathairn – “Lincoln,” “Good Night, and Good Luck.”Casting Directors
Douglas Aibel – “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Immigrant”
Simone Bär – “The Monuments Men,” “The Book Thief”
Kerry Barden – “August: Osage County,” “Dallas Buyers Club”
Nikki Barrett – “The Railway Man,” “The Great Gatsby”
Mark Bennett – “Drinking Buddies,” “Zero Dark Thirty”
Risa Bramon Garcia – “Speed,” “Wall Street”
Michelle Guish – “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Nanny McPhee”
Billy Hopkins – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Disconnect”
Ros Hubbard – “Romeo & Juliet,” “The Mummy”
Allison Jones – “The Way, Way Back,” “The Heat”
Christine King – “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” “Star
Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith”
Beatrice Kruger – “To Rome with Love,” “The American”
Marci Liroff – “Mean Girls,” “Pretty in Pink”
Debbie McWilliams – “Skyfall,” “Quantum of Solace”
Joseph Middleton – “TheTwilight Saga: New Moon,” “Legally Blonde”
Robi Reed – “For Colored Girls,” “Do the Right Thing”
Kevin Reher – “Monsters University,” “Finding Nemo”
Paul Schnee – “August: Osage County,” “Dallas Buyers Club”
Gail Stevens – “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Slumdog Millionaire”
Lucinda Syson – “Gravity,” “Fast and & Furious 6”
Fiona Weir – “J. Edgar,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Ronnie Yeskel – “The Sessions,” “Atlas Shrugged Part 1”Cinematographers
Sean Bobbitt – “12 Years a Slave,” “The Place beyond the Pines”
Philippe Le Sourd – “The Grandmaster,” “Seven Pounds”
James Neihouse – “Hubble 3D,” “Nascar: The IMAX Experience”
Masanobu Takayanagi – “Out of the Furnace,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Bradford Young – “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” “Pariah”Costume Designers
William Chang Suk Ping – “The Grandmaster,” “In the Mood for Love”
Pascaline Chavanne – “Renoir,” “Augustine”
Daniela Ciancio – “The Great Beauty,” “Il Divo”
Frank L. Fleming – “Draft Day,” “Monster’s Ball”
Maurizio Millenotti – “Hamlet,” “Otello”
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor – “Great Expectations,” “Good Will Hunting”
Karyn Wagner – “Lovelace,” “The Green Mile”Designers
William Arnold – “Lovelace,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”
K.K. Barrett – “Her,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Susan Benjamin – “Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Blind Side”
Bill Boes – “The Smurfs 2,” “Fantastic Four”
Tony Fanning – “Contraband,” “War of the Worlds”
Robert Greenfield – “Priest,” “Almost Famous”
Marcia Hinds – “I Spy,” “The Public Eye”
Sonja Brisbane Klaus – “Prometheus,” “Robin Hood”
David S. Lazan – “Flight,” “American Beauty”
Diane Lederman – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Tower Heist”
Heather Loeffler – “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Christa Munro – “Jack Reacher,” “Erin Brockovich”
Andy Nicholson – “Gravity,” “The Host”
Adam Stockhausen – “12 Years a Slave,” “Moonrise Kingdom”Directors
Hany Abu-Assad – “Omar,” “Paradise Now”
Jay Duplass – “Jeff, Who Lives at Home,” “Cyrus”
Mark Duplass – “Jeff, Who Lives at Home,” “Cyrus”
David Gordon Green – “Joe,” “Pineapple Express”
Gavin O’Connor – “Warrior,” “Miracle”
Gina Prince-Bythewood – “The Secret Life of Bees,” “Love and Basketball”
Paolo Sorrentino – “The Great Beauty,” “This Must Be the Place”
Jean-Marc Vallée – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Young Victoria”
Felix van Groeningen – “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” “The Misfortunates”
Denis Villeneuve – “Prisoners,” “Incendies”
Thomas Vinterberg – “The Hunt,” “The Celebration”Documentary
Malcolm Clarke – “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life,” “Prisoner of Paradise”
Dan Cogan – “How to Survive a Plague,” “The Queen of Versailles”
Kief Davidson – “Open Heart,” “Kassim the Dream”
Dan Geller – “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden,” “Ballets Russes”
Dayna Goldfine – “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden,” “Ballets Russes”
Julie Goldman – “God Loves Uganda,” “Gideon’s Army”
Sam Green – “Utopia in Four Movements,” “The Weather Underground”
Gary Hustwit – “Urbanized,” “Helvetica”
Eugene Jarecki – “The House I Live In,” “Why We Fight”
Brian Johnson – “Anita,” “Buena Vista Social Club”
Ross Kauffman – “E-Team,” “Born into Brothels”
Morgan Neville – “20 Feet from Stardom,” “Troubadours”
Matthew J. O'Neill – “Redemption,” “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan
Province”
Rithy Panh – “The Missing Picture,” “S-21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine”
Lucy Massie Phenix – “Regret to Inform,” “Word Is Out”
Enat Sidi – “Detropia,” “Jesus Camp”
Molly Thompson – “The Unknown Known,” “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer”
Cynthia Wade – “Mondays at Racine,” “Freeheld”Executives
Adrian Alperovich
Sean Bailey
Len Blavatnik
Nicholas Carpou
Nancy Carson
Charles S. Cohen
Jason Constantine
Peter Cramer
William Kyle Davies
Christopher Floyd
David Garrett
David Hollis
Tomas Jegeus
Michelle Raimo Kouyate
Anthony James Marcoly
Hiroyasu Matsuoka
Kim Roth
John SlossFilm Editors
Alan Baumgarten – “American Hustle,” “Gangster Squad”
Alan Edward Bell – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”
Dorian Harris – “The Magic of Belle Isle,” “The Mod Squad”
Sabrina Plisco – “The Smurfs 2,” “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”
Tatiana S. Riegel – “Million Dollar Arm,” “The Way, Way Back”
Julie Rogers – “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl”
Mark Sanger – “Gravity”
Joan Sobel – “Admission,” “A Single Man”
Crispin Struthers – “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Tracey Wadmore-Smith – “About Last Night,” “Death at a Funeral”
Joe Walker – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”
John Wilson – “The Book Thief,” “Billy Elliot”Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Vivian Baker – “Oz The Great and Powerful,” “Conviction”
Adruitha Lee – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “12 Years a Slave”
Robin Mathews – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “The Runaways”
Anne Morgan – “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” “A Little Bit of Heaven”
Gloria Pasqua-Casny – “The Lone Ranger,” “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”Members-at-Large
Peter Becker
Jeff Dashnaw
Kenneth L. Halsband
Jody Levin
Tom MacDougall
Chuck Picerni, Jr.
Spiro Razatos
Mic Rodgers
Kevin J. YeamanMusic
Kristen Anderson-Lopez – “Frozen,” “Winnie the Pooh”
Stanley Clarke – “The Best Man Holiday,” “Boyz N the Hood”
Earl Ghaffari – “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Steve Jablonsky – “Lone Survivor,” “Ender’s Game”
Robert Lopez – “Frozen,” “Winnie the Pooh”
Steven Price – “Gravity,” “The World’s End”
Tony Renis – “Hidden Moon,” “Quest for Camelot”
Angie Rubin – “Pitch Perfect,” “Sex and the City”
Buck Sanders – “Warm Bodies,” “The Hurt Locker”
Charles Strouse – “All Dogs Go to Heaven,” “Annie”
Eddie Vedder – “Eat Pray Love,” “Into the Wild”
Pharrell Williams – “Despicable Me 2,” “Fast & Furious”Producers
Jason Blumenthal – “Hope Springs,” “Seven Pounds”
Dana Brunetti – “Captain Phillips,” “The Social Network”
Megan Ellison – “American Hustle,” “Her”
Sean Furst – “Daybreakers,” “The Cooler”
Nicola Giuliano – “The Great Beauty,” “This Must Be the Place”
Preston Holmes – “Waist Deep,” “Tupac: Resurrection”
Lynette M. Howell – “The Place beyond the Pines,” “Blue Valentine”
Anthony Katagas – “12 Years a Slave,” “Killing Them Softly”
Alix Madigan – “Girl Most Likely,” “Winter’s Bone”
Paul Mezey – “The Girl,” “Maria Full of Grace”
Stephen Nemeth – “The Sessions,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”
Tracey Seaward – “Philomena,” “The Queen”
John H. Williams – “Space Chimps,” “Shrek 2”Public Relations
Larry Angrisani
Nancy Bannister
Christine Batista
Karen Hermelin
Marisa McGrath Liston
David Magdael
Steven Raphael
Bettina R. Sherick
Dani WeinsteinShort Films and Feature Animation
Didier Brunner – “Ernest & Celestine,” “The Triplets of Belleville”
Scott Clark – “Monsters University,” “Up”
Pierre Coffin – “Despicable Me 2,” “Despicable Me”
Esteban Crespo – “Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me),” “Lala”
Peter Del Vecho – “Frozen,” “The Princess and the Frog”
Kirk DeMicco – “The Croods,” “Space Chimps”
Doug Frankel – “Brave,” “WALL-E”
Mark Gill – “The Voorman Problem,” “Full Time”
David A. S. James – “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “Megamind”
Fabrice Joubert – “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,” “French Roast”
Jean-Claude Kalache – “Up,” “Cars”
Jason Katz – “Toy Story 3,” “Finding Nemo”
Jennifer Lee – “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Baldwin Li – “The Voorman Problem,” “Full Time”
Nathan Loofbourrow – “Puss in Boots,” “How to Train Your Dragon”
Lauren MacMullan – “Get a Horse!,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Tom McGrath – “Megamind,” “Madagascar”
Dorothy McKim – “Get a Horse!,” “Meet the Robinsons”
Hayao Miyazaki – “The Wind Rises,” “Spirited Away”
Ricky Nierva – “Monsters University,” “Up”
Chris Renaud – “Despicable Me 2,” “Despicable Me”
Benjamin Renner – “Ernest & Celestine,” “A Mouse’s Tale (La Queue de la Souris)”
Michael Rose – “Chico & Rita,” “The Gruffalo”
Toshio Suzuki – “The Wind Rises,” “Howl’s Moving Castle”
Selma Vilhunen – “Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitta? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?),”
“The Crossroads”
Anders Walter – “Helium,” “9 Meter”
Laurent Witz – “Mr. Hublot,” “Renart the Fox”Sound
Niv Adiri – “Gravity,” “The Book Thief”
Christopher Benstead – “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Gravity”
Steve Boeddeker – “All Is Lost,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Beau Borders – “Million Dollar Arm,” “Lone Survivor”
David Brownlow – “Lone Survivor,” “The Book of Eli”
Chris Burdon – “Captain Phillips,” “Philomena”
Brent Burge – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey”
André Fenley – “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “All Is Lost”
Glenn Freemantle – “Gravity,” “Slumdog Millionaire”
Greg Hedgepath – “Frozen,” “The Incredible Hulk”
Craig Henighan – “Noah,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
Tony Johnson – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Avatar”
Laurent M. Kossayan – “Red Riding Hood,” “Public Enemies”
Thomas L. Lalley – “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “Star Trek Into Darkness”
Ai-Ling Lee – “Godzilla,” “300: Rise of an Empire”
Stephen Morris – “Monsters University,” “Fruitvale Station”
Jeremy Peirson – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Looper”
Mike Prestwood Smith – “Divergent,” “Captain Phillips”
Alan Rankin – “Iron Man 3,” “Star Trek”
Oliver Tarney – “Captain Phillips,” “Philomena”
Chris Ward – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey”Visual Effects
Gary Brozenich – “The Lone Ranger,” “Wrath of the Titans”
Everett Burrell – “Grudge Match,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Marc Chu – “Noah,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
David Fletcher – “Sabotage,” “Prisoners”
Swen Gillberg – “Ender’s Game,” “Jack the Giant Slayer”
Paul Graff – “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Identity Thief”
Alex Henning – “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Hugo”
Evan Jacobs – “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Olympus Has Fallen”
Chris Lawrence – “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Gravity”
Eric Leven – “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2,” “The Twilight Saga: Breaking
Dawn Part 1”
Steven Messing – “Godzilla,” “Oz The Great and Powerful”
Ben Matthew Morris – “Lincoln,” “The Golden Compass”
Jake Morrison – “Thor: The Dark World,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Eric Reynolds – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire”
David Shirk – “Gravity,” “Elysium”
Patrick Tubach – “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Bruno Van Zeebroeck – “Lone Survivor,” “Public Enemies”
Tim Webber – “Gravity,” “The Dark Knight”
Harold Weed – “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” “Star Trek”Writers
Chantal Akerman – “A Couch in New York,” “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce,
1080 Bruxelles”
Olivier Assayas – “Summer Hours,” “Irma Vep”
Craig Borten – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Scott Z. Burns – “Side Effects,” “Contagion”
Jean-Claude Carrière – “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” “The Discreet Charm of
the Bourgeoisie”
Steve Coogan – “Philomena,” “The Parole Officer”
Claire Denis – “White Material,” “Beau Travail”
Larry Gross – “We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” “48 Hrs.”
Mathieu Kassovitz – “Babylon A.D.,” “Hate (La Haine)”
Diane Kurys – “For a Woman,” “Entre Nous”
Bob Nelson – “Nebraska”
Scott Neustadter – “The Spectacular Now,” “(500) Days of Summer”
Jeff Pope – “Philomena,” “Pierrepoint – The Last Hangman”
John Ridley – “12 Years a Slave,” “Undercover Brother”
Paul Rudnick – “In & Out,” ”Jeffrey”
Eric Warren Singer – “American Hustle,” ”The International”
Melisa Wallack – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Mirror Mirror”
Michael H. Weber – “The Spectacular Now,” “(500) Days of Summer”
Terence Winter – “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Get Rich or Die Tryin'”Associates
Matt Del Piano
Joe Funicello
Robert Hohman
Paul Christopher Hook
David Kramer
Joel Lubin
David Pringle
Melanie Ramsayer
Beth Swofford
Meredith WechterEach year Academy members may sponsor one candidate for membership within their branch. New member application reviews take place in the spring. Applications for the coming year must be received by March 19, 2015.
New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception in September.
Reader Comments (40)
First thought after seeing your headline, "Beth Grant better be one of the ten!!"
No, no, no, no, no to Best Cast Directing, which will just become a proxy for "Best Cast" which will just become a "Best Picture nominees and films with big casts" nomination.
I am quite surprised, and delighted, by the unexpected invitations (all of them in the Writers category) of European directors/autheurs such as Chantal Akerman, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, Mathieu Kassovitz and Diane Kurys!
All of them names one usually expects to pop up when Film Festivals' lineups are announced.
LOL @ Jason Statham being chosen
Jason staham?
Bradford Young is lensing JC Chandor's upcoming movie. I am hoping he makes it onto the awards circuit this year.
They are very late on David Strathairn.
Did Chiwetel not make the cut, or is he already a member?
They get most of the actor citations right, but here's five that stuck out as still not the best possible "overviews through 2 or less"
Clancy Brown: The Shawshank Redemption, Highlander
Cillian Murphy: Batman Begins, 28 Days Later
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Enough Said
Chris Rock: Dogma, Nurse Betty
Paul Dano: Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood
John T: That's not at all what it should be. What it SHOULD be is the "big unknown find" winner and, if they make that category, that should be the primary stated rule for consideration for nominations/wins. So take 1978. The Deer Hunter won Best Picture, right? What would win best casting under that mandate? Superman: The Movie. Or 1995: Braveheart won Picture, but KIDS would be a pretty likely Best Casting win with that as the mandate.
Great for Beth Grant and Ben Foster! Glad to see Kelly MacDonald on the list now if someone would give her a role worthy of her talent.
Jason Statham – “Parker,” “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”
such classics, lol
I actually thought Chris Rock was a member already, seeing as how he actually hosted the show. I realize his performance was divisive (to say the least), but damn.
Volver: Actually, should have also give him a pass over. My citations?
Jason Statham: Snatch, Crank: High Voltage.
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor.
Just looked at the actors a bit more closely and I'm surprised to see David Strathairn just getting in. He was a best actor nominee, if that doesn't warrant an invitation what does?
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
People -- a lot of people less talented than Jason Statham have been invited over the years. He's good at what he does which is more than some people can say ;)
Jason Statham brings the hotness, I have no issue with his inclusion. :-) He's got IT. Sorry.
But anyway, yes I thought if you were nominated you were automatically invited. Is that not true? Has David Strathairn been turning them down for the last 10 years? Do they invite you only once or over and over again until you finally accept? :-) That's a serious question by the way.
PS Who is Rob Riggle?
Dave -- as i said in the article it is NOT true that you are automatically invited if you're nominated. it's just they usually invite people if they are. (Rob Riggle is a comic actor currenty talking about his vagina in prison in 22 Jump Street)
To Suzanne,
Chiwetel Ejiofor is already a member. He was invited in 2007 and apparently accepted. Gold Derby had an article a month or two ago wondering if the 5 acting nominees who weren't already members would be invited. As it happens, all 5 (Abdi, Fassbender, Hawkins, Nyongo'o, and Squibb) were invited.
Shocked they weren't already: Dano, Fassbender, Foster, Hawkins, Murphy and especially Strathairn
Favorites: Young, Barrett, Duplass (both) and yay Megan Ellison!
Paul Rudnick? They're like two decades late!
They should have been invited Tony Servillo. He was memorable in La grande bellezza.
Volvagia-but that's not what it would be for. In 1978 it would have gone to The Deer Hunter. You can say whatever you want, but years of Editing, Writing, and Directing all being near carbon copies of the top prize proves that the Academy doesn't discern too greatly in their awards, certainly not enough to give Kids an Oscar.
A few random actors... so weird.
I keep a list of these on my blog, and so far have found three of these new invitees who we know have been invited before:
David Strathairn was invited in 2006.
This is Miyazaki's fourth invitation (the last one being in 2006).
Jean-Claude Carriere has been invited several times, including 2006 and 2008.
It's hard to know if something has changed that would now make these folks join when they didn't before, or whether the Academy just wants to throw them another invitation to say "Yes, we really want you!"
John T: But how likely is it, if Casting Directors followed that rule for nominations, that The Deer Hunter would have even been nominated in that category? My guess, if the rule was iron clad followed in 1978?
Superman The Movie
Halloween
National Lampoon's Animal House
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
and ?
Lucy Massie Phenix – “Regret to Inform,” “Word Is Out”
Win for the Academy, fail for the Advocate.
I'm against a casting director Oscar. There isn't much point in awarding a casting director for a film staring Meryl when she was the reason the casting director got the job (or the film was made). It needs to be based on discovering new talent, which again, is more often done by the producer and director. Next they'll be awarding an Oscar for PR.
Which, come to think of it, could lead to some ugly, but entertaining campaigns.
At least Statham will make non-traditional choices, or so I would assume. Also, add another to the group who is shocked that Strathairn wasn't already a member.
As for Beth Grant- cute. I saw her outside of Alice Tully Hall (completely unrelated to any event) just 2 or 3 months ago and she looked so normal. If I hadn't been watching The Mindy Project recently, I wouldn't have recognized her face and would have assumed she was a tourist. I love that someone so home-grown can succeed in Hollywood.
Henry -- it's actually false that producers or directors are the ones 'discovering' new talent. That's totally the casting directors who present the director with their top choices and then he/she decides from there. Casting directors also negotiate a lot of the star contracts. They do a lot more than is believed. I recently saw the documentary "Casting By..." and it was totally fascinating. I highly recommend. I think ti's on HBO GO still. .
Rob Riggle? echhhh...
Can someone remind me who falls into the "members at large" group? I don't recognize any of those names.
So happy for Beth Grant.
Ben Foster - Robin Wright's boytoy
Nat--We can agree to disagree. I do not doubt a casting directors eye or talent. Many would do far better jobs of casting projects than the powers that be (especially those that work in theatre and commercials). The doc is good, but it gilds the lily.
I'm surprised Josh Hutcherson got an invitation ahead of one of the Harry Potter kids (either Daniel Radcliffe or Emma Watson). I think Rob Riggle is a funny actor and comedian but what exactly did he do to merit an invite?
STATHAM's choice is TOP
On name alone Spiro Razatos is my favorite induction this year.
I had no idea who he was so I did a quick google search and turns out he is a stuntman and stunt coordinator.
If they bring about a best casting Oscar, hope they add best stunts as well, so we can have Academy Award Winner Spiro Razatos.
We can even sing about it! You say Speero, I say Spyro. You say Razayto, I say Razahto! Speero! Spyro! Razayto! Razahto! Fun times!!
Volvagia-I think it is EXTREMELY likely that The Deer Hunter would have been nominated in 1978, certainly more so than your lineup, and almost certainly would have won. Look at how the editing branch nominated Silver Linings Playbook despite little to lend that film or countless other examples of how group think with the Best Picture or acting categories caused a branch to give up a more unique but worthy example. Only branches where you completely have to think outside the box like Best Makeup (where many of the Best Picture nominees don't have anyone to contend) or Best Visual Effects (where few of the Best Picture nominees have anyone to contend) do you get a more category-specific lineup.
Also, look at something like the Artios Awards, the closest we currently have to a precursor to a Best Casting Award. In 2013 the nominees were Argo, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Life of Pi, and Zero Dark Thirty for Drama. In 2012 they were The Descendants, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, The Hunger Games, and Moneyball. In 2011 they were The Fighter, Inception, The Social Network, The Town, and True Grit. In three years the only film that was remotely out of scope for the Academy was The Hunger Games. This doesn't bode well for an Academy category being anything other than another checkmark for a film stampeding to the top prize.
And my guesses for 1978 would be The Deer Hunter, Coming Home, Midnight Express, Heaven Can Wait, and probably Interiors or California Suite for the Best Casting Director nomination, with the first two near certain to be nominated (big, multiple acting nominations cast and Best Picture nominees).
How in the world are they just now getting around to inviting Mads Mikkelsen to join??
ROB RIGGLE???
Bitch, please. The Academy gets more and more ridic with each passing year.
I am against a new Oscar for casting. To add categories, there should be a compelling case, and there's not one here.
William Chang Suk Ping SO deserves this. He is Wong Kar Wai's costume designer, art director and FILM EDITOR!! The guy is a genius, seriously. All those gorgeous costumes for 2046, In The Mood For Love, The Grandmaster, and in top of all that he edites those films.
Not too excited about the inclusion of Josh Hutcherson, but surely he is better than any Harry Potter kids? And if they want to invite HP kids, Radcliffe is a much better choice than Watson. She is, in my opinion, one of the worst actresses I've ever seen.