The list of candidates for the 2020 Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors election is now out, with the winner in each branch being chosen directly from these entries rather than whittling it down to four finalists in each, as has been done previously. The list of candidates is made up of qualified AMPAS members who actually submit themselves.
Also new this year in the streamlined timetable, as Deadline exclusively reported May 16. The winners for the 17 open slots on the 54-member board will be chosen by preferential balloting, just like Best Picture race at the Oscars. Voting begins Monday and ballots are due back June 5.
The actors branch is the largest in the Academy and it also has drawn the biggest field of contenders for the one spot that is up. Incumbent governor Whoopi Goldberg is running for re-election against past governor Ed Begley Jr. vying to return to the board. Other notables on the list include Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss; Rita Wilson, now recovered from her early bout with COVID-19; and brothers Stacy Keach and James Keach facing off against each other.
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Among directors angling for the seat currently held by Kimberley Peirce, who is running again for a new term, are Ava DuVernay, Jason Reitman and Reginald Hudlin, the latter a past Oscar-show producer as well an as at-large board member looking to win a seat in this branch now. Also running is none other than Brett Ratner, who rather notoriously was in the headlines when he resigned as producer of the 84th Academy Awards show after certain disparaging comments, including a derogatory word for gays he made surfaced on tape in 2011 shortly after he was selected for the job.
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In the Executives branch, Sony Pictures Classics co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard face off against each other as well as incumbent David Linde among others. In the Producers branch, Jason Blum makes another try for the board, along with past Best Picture winners Irwin Winkler and Michael Phillips. This year’s Oscar show producer Lynette Howell Taylor and this year’s Governors Awards producer Jennifer Fox also aim to join the board. Among others vying is Michael Shamberg, who has made no secret of his opposition to Academy leadership — including a recent guest column for Deadline.
Here’s the full list of nominees by branch (* = incumbent):
Actors
Michael Lee Aday
Ed Begley, Jr
Robert Carradine
Nicolas Coster
Colman Domingo
Richard Dreyfuss
Spencer Garrett
Bruce Glover
Whoopi Goldberg*
James Keach
Stacy Keach
Peter Kwong
Jodi Long
Tim Matheson
Joe Pantoliano
Lou Diamond Phillips
Andrea Riseborough
Andrew Stevens
Rita Wilson
Casting Directors
Kerry Barden
Richard Hicks
Margery Simkin
Debra Zane
Cinematographers
Kerry Barden
Richard Hicks
Margery Simkin
Debra Zane
Andrzej Bartkowiak
Richard P Crudo
Svetlana Cvetko
Steven Fierberg
Michael Goi
Janusz Kaminski
Newton Thomas Sigel
Eric Steelberg
Kees Van Oostrum
Amelia Vincent
Roy Wagner
Mandy Walker*
Costume Designers
Molly Maginnis
Judianna Makovsky
Isis Mussenden*
Rita Ryack
Directors
Niki Caro
Scott Cooper
Ava DuVernay
Reginald Hudlin
Kasi Lemmons
Michael Mann
Philippe Mora
Kimberly Peirce*
Brett Ratner
Peyton Reed
Jason Reitman
Frances-Anne Solomon
Lewis Teague
Documentary
Kate Amend*
Geralyn Dreyfous
Karen Goodman
Lauren Greenfield
Tom Neff
Executives
Pam Abdy
Victoria Alonso
Michael W Barker
Thomas Bernard
Mark C Canton
Erica Huggins
David Linde*
Mike Medavoy
James W Morris
Gianni Nunnari
Stephen Strick
Patrick Wachsberger
Film Editors
Mark Helfrich
Michael Jablow
Nancy Richardson
Stephen Rivkin
David Rosenbloom
Paul Seydor
Terilyn A Shropshire
Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Linda Flowers
Marketing and Public Relations
Stephen D Bruno
Kevin Goetz
Barry Dale Johnson
Michael Kaplan
Christina Kounelias*
Robert A Levine
Michele Robertson
Music
Charles Bernstein*
Paul Chihara
George S Clinton
John C Debney
Sharon Farber
William Goldstein
Jan A P Kaczmarek
Emilio Kauderer
Carole Bayer Sager
Producers
Khadija Alami
Jason Blum
Lawrence David Foldes
Jennifer Fox
Lynette Howell Taylor
Steven-Charles Jaffe
Robert Lantos
Lori McCreary
Chris Moore
Michael Peyser
Michael S Phillips
Peter Samuelson
Michael Shamberg
Jeffrey Sharp
Richard W Stevenson
Irwin Winkler
Production Design
Marcia Hinds
Geoffrey A Kirkland
John A Kuri
Carolyn A Loucks
John Muto
Rusty Smith
Melissa Stewart
Wynn P Thomas*
Thomas A Walsh
Short Films and Feature Animation
Jon Bloom
Edwin Catmull
Ron Diamond
Chris Donahue
Raul Garcia
Matthew Gross
Tom Sito*
Erik Smitt
Chris Tashima
Sound
Bobbi Banks
Teri E Dorman*
Nicholas Eliopoulos
Scott Gershin
Mark Mangini
F Hudson Miller
Victoria Rose Sampson
Mark P Stoeckinger
Bruce Tanis
Randy Thom
Visual Effects
Robert Blalack
Rob Bredow
Brooke Breton
Richard Edlund*
Jonathan Erland
Jeffrey M Kleiser
Jeffrey A Okun
Helena Packer
Joshua Pines
Theresa Ellis Rygiel
Rick Sayre
Writers
Carl A Gottlieb
Larry Karaszewski*
Gregory Nava
John Ridley
Howard A Rodman