Academy Invites 120 to Membership

July 5, 2006 - Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has extended membership invitations to 120 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves in the field of theatrical motion pictures. The group will be the only new voting members invited to join the organization in 2006.

“Two years ago the Academy decided to slow membership growth, and to become even more selective in choosing members,” said Academy President Sid Ganis. “Instead of inviting every proposed person who has achieved the minimum qualifications for his or her branch, the membership committees are selecting the most exceptionally qualified names from those lists.”

Procedures instituted two years ago allow the organization to fill vacancies resulting from death and transitions to retired (non-voting) status and grow by a maximum of 30 new members annually.

Candidates for Academy membership are considered by committees made up of prominent representatives of each of the organization’s 14 branches — art directors, executives, film editors, etc. Candidates can either be proposed by the committees or by two current members of their branch. In addition, individuals nominated for Academy Awards®, if not already members of the organization, are considered by the appropriate committees, though not necessarily invited to membership. This year, 39 of the invitees were 2005 nominees and eight won Oscars®.

Though the great majority of AMPAS members are based in the U.S., membership is open to qualified filmmakers around the world. The Academy roster currently includes theatrical motion picture makers from 36 countries.

New members will be welcomed into the organization at an invitation-only reception on Wednesday, September 20, at the Academy’s Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in Beverly Hills.

* ACTORS
Amy Adams
Eric Bana
Maria Bello
Dakota Fanning
Jake Gyllenhaal
Terrence Howard
Felicity Huffman
Keira Knightley
Heath Ledger
Hayley Mills
Barry Pepper
Joaquin Phoenix
Jon Polito
Ving Rhames
Liev Schreiber
David Strathairn
Rachel Weisz

* ANIMATORS
Wayne Allwine
Mark Andrews
Steve Box
John Canemaker
Will Finn
Rex Grignon
Andrew Jimenez
Tim Johnson
Hayao Miyazaki

* AT-LARGE
Grover Crisp
Louis D’Esposito
Daniel Glickman
Steve Papazian
David Young

* CASTING DIRECTORS
Sarah Halley Finn
Randi Hiller


* CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Lance Acord
Paul Cameron
Cesar Charlone
Denis Lenoir
Wally Pfister
Roberto Schaefer
Sandi Sissel
Tom Stern
Salvatore Totino


* COSTUME DESIGNERS
Jacqueline Durran
Janty Yates

* DIRECTORS
Werner Herzog
Nicole Holofcener
Gavin Hood
Bennett Miller
Mark Waters

* DOCUMENTARY
Paola di Florio
Alex Gibney
Hubert Sauper

* EXECUTIVES
Gail Berman
Jeff Bewkes
Colin Callender
Andrew E. Cripps
Hal Gaba
Elizabeth Gabler
Douglas Mankoff
Michael Paseornek
Paul Schaeffer
Jonathan Sehring
Michael J. Werner

* FILM EDITORS
Tom Finan
Wayne Wahrman
Hughes Winborne

* LIVE ACTION SHORT FILMS
Pia Clemente
Martin McDonagh
Rob Pearlstein


* MAKEUP/HAIRSTYLISTS
Lance Anderson
Nick Dudman


* MUSIC
Harry Gregson-Williams
Alberto Iglesias
Dario Marianelli
Dolly Parton


* PRODUCERS
Albert Berger
Bill Kong
Tom Luddy
Gail Mutrux
Diane Nabatoff
Cathy Schulman
Jennifer Todd
Robert K. Weiss
Ron Yerxa

* PRODUCTION DESIGNERS/ART DIRECTORS
Mark Friedberg
Sarah Greenwood
Tom Reta
Melissa Stewart
Tom Wilkins

* PUBLIC RELATIONS
Andre Caraco
Mary Murphy Conlin
Steve Elzer
Barbara Glazer
Rick Lynch
Steven T. Miller



* SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL
James Beshears
Lanny Raimondo
Kenneth S. Williams



* SET DECORATORS
Trisha Edwards
Victor Zolfo



* SOUND
Ulrika Akander
Anthony (Chic) Ciccolini III
Eugene Gearty
Michael Semanick
Renée Tondelli

* VISUAL EFFECTS
Jim Berney
Pablo Helman
Jeffrey M. Kleiser
Michael Meinardus
William F. “Bill” Shourt
Dan Taylor
Bill Tondreau
Bill Westenhofer


* WRITERS
Noah Baumbach
Jeffrey Caine
Jean-Claude Carrière
Dan Futterman
Tony Kushner
Bobby Moresco
Josh Olson

Contact Information

Leslie Unger

Press Contact

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

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