As you may have heard rumors are afoot about who will replace Cheryl Boone-Isaacs when her term as up as President of AMPAS and Laura Dern's name keeps popping up. Cheryl Boone-Isaacs presided with a mostly clear head over a difficult stretch of Oscar history but she can't run this year (four consecutive terms is the limit, each term is 1 year). Despite the excessive campaigning that goes on at Oscar time for nominations, the Academy doesn't like any active campaigning when it comes to this role.
In other words, don't count on David Lynch showing up with his cow on Los Angeles streets to campaign for Laura Dern as he did when she starred in INLAND EMPIRE (2006). The rumored frontrunners for this prestigious but unpaid position are...
- Laura Dern, actress (Big Little Lies) - twice nominated
- Jeffrey Kurland, costume designer (Bullets Over Broadway) - one Oscar nomination
- David Rubin, casting director -no Oscar nominations but that's only because Oscar doesn't have a category for them!
- Phil Alden Robinson, director (Field of Dreams) - one Oscar nomination
If Dern takes the reigns, she'll only be the second actress to do so. The first and only to date was Bette Davis who briefly (and just barely) served as President during the peak of her career (1941) but resigned after two months. The male actors who've previously held the role are Douglas Fairbanks (late 20s) Conrad Nagel (early 30s), Wendell Corey (early 60s), Gregory Peck (late 60s), and Karl Malden (early 90s).
If you're curious about how this all works, each branch within the Academy has three of their own "governors" and the various sets of governors all form the Board of Governors which then make certain choices about the Oscars (like who gets the Honorary Oscars and whatnot or whether they'll ever go back to 5 Best Picture nominees, etcetera).
Term limits for the current Board of Governors are up this summer. If you're curious the Governors within the Acting Branch this past year have been these three beloved stars:
And here's the other "marquee" branch's current Governors
After the new board of governors is determined in June, a vote will be held on the President role (because you have to sit on the governor's board to even run for it).
Trivia of Interest: Dern, who just turned 50 -- hope you enjoyed our celebration! -- is I think the 3rd youngest on the board (with a couple of documentarians just a hair younger than her)
Though it's certain that Laura's character Renata on Big Little Lies would rally behind Dern (on behalf of all working mothers, stretched thing), I'm partial to the Jeffrey Kurland choice. Why well a) he's currently a vice president b) I don't want Laura Dern distracted from the camera WHICH NEEDS TO LOOK AT HER - SHE'S "THE FACE" and c) I don't think they've ever had a Costume Designer as president. Kurland, and some unknown lady named Meryl Streep, were the career tribute honorees of this past February's Costume Design Guild Awards.