The Oscars have had a diversity problem for some time. While that problem stretches out from long before, The Academy has come under fire annually since the first #OscarsSoWhite hashtag came into play back in January of 2015. While some progress has been made, the most prestigious awards show in North America has continued to struggle with inclusion.
Now, five years later, it seems like The Academy is taking real steps toward change. Kyle Buchanan of the New York Times tweeted the below earlier this evening.
🚨The Oscars just announced their watershed new diversity and inclusion standards for Best Picture.🚨Starting with the 2024 Oscars, a film must meet 2 of the following 4 standards to be eligible for Oscar’s biggest prize: pic.twitter.com/pTqGmT2yAlSeptember 9, 2020
As noted in the tweet, two of the four new standards must be met in order to qualify for The Oscars' biggest prize.
The quick breakdown of the new standards is as follows:
- A1: Lead or significant supporting actors must be from an underrepresented group.
- A2: At least 30% of all secondary roles must be from an underrepresented group.
- A3: The main storyline/theme must focus on an underrepresented group.
- B1: At least 2 department heads/leadership positions must be from an underrepresented group.
- B2: At least 6 members of the key crew must be from an underrepresented group.
- B3: At least 30% of the overall crew must be from an underrepresented group.
- C1: Paid internship opportunities must be offered by the distribution or financing company. At least two of those opportunities have to go to underrepresented groups.
- C2: Training opportunities and skills and development must be offered to underrepresented groups.
- D1: The studio must have multiple in-house senior executives from underrepresented groups.
The full standards are represented by A, B, C, and D. Meaning, to qualify for standard A, the film must meet A1-A3, etc. It's also worth mentioning that the other categories are not required to meet these rules. The above standards only apply to Best Picture.
While these standards won't solve all of Hollywood's diversity issues, it's nice to see The Academy put forward an attempt at tangible change. These standards will come into play in 2024.
You can read the full press release here.
