I wish I had submitted this ...
The man of their dreams
Question: I wish I had submitted this last year but I never got around to it. So I’m asking now: Why is there such a small number of voting Academy members?
Answer: You'd think that if the Academy comprises actors, directors, producers and all those other craftspeople, there would be a lot more voting members. As of 2006, there are 5,798 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, divided among 14 branches: actors (the largest by a considerable margin), art directors, cinematographers, directors, documentary filmmakers, executives, film editors, music composers, producers, publicists, animators, sound technicians, visual-effects artists and screenwriters. Clearly, every person working in those fields is not a member of the Academy: It’s an invitation-only organization, and candidates for membership are proposed by current members and then “considered by committees made up of prominent representatives of the organization’s 14 branches” to determine whether they “have achieved the highest level of distinction in the arts and sciences of motion pictures." According to an Academy press release, actors Sean Penn, Treat Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Keith David, Hope Davis and Viggo Mortensen — all of whom have significant bodies of work dating back at least a decade — along with up-and-comers like Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scarlett Johansson and Keisha Castle-Hughes, were extended invitations to join only in 2004. Exclusivity is not, of course, inherently a bad thing; while there are only a few thousand people nominating and voting, they’re a select group intended to represent the best and the brightest.
But here’s the catch: The downside to the way Academy membership works is that once you’re in, it’s pretty much for life, and they try to keep the roster at around 5,800 members. That’s why the age of voters skews old, and I think it’s safe to say that age accounts for the generally middle-of-the-road nature of the nominations. And frankly, that’s why I’m so impressed with this year’s nominations, which are heavily weighted towards independently produced and art-house-oriented films of genuine, if sometimes thorny, distinction.