Oscar "reality" -- Academy membership is 94% Caucasian, 77% male (VARIETY discussion) - 2014 article

On more diversity of film community by Tim Gray AWARDS EDITOR -- Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences -- from March 2014 article on "Presenters at this year's Ceremony" : The business is changing, and so is Oscar; you have to make similar quantum leaps. In late June, the Academy invited 276 new members, more than double the usual number. At least 100 of them can be defined as “other voices,” so the outreach/expansion is in motion. The executives at the Academy can’t control who members vote for. But as it turns out, this year’s Oscar contenders prove that the business is already embracing those “different voices.” For example: Gravity boasted a Mexican director, scripters and cinematographer, a British producer and VFX team, and two American actors. 12 Years a Slave was from an English director, starred actors from Britain, Ireland-Germany and Mexico-Kenya, and had four American producers. Sunday’s cinematography contenders are Mexico’s Emmanuel Lubezki, Britain’s Roger Deakins, Greece’s Phedon Papamichael and France’s Philippe Le Sourd and Bruno Delbonnel (with the last two working for Chinese and American directors, respectively). Patricia Norris (12 Years a Slave) is the only American in the costume design category. Alfonso Cuaron, Steve McQueen, Hayao Miyazaki and other nominees from Asia, Europe and the Mideast offer a multi-cultural cross-section. So in terms of “different voices,” this is a pretty good year. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there’s still a long way to go, and gender equality is still an uphill struggle. There were zero females nominated in direction, cinematography, editing, visual effects and the two sound categories. In general, the film biz needs to address the mix (or non-mix) in below the line work. When the L.A. Times last year published its study that the Academy was 94% Caucasian and 77% male, some charged the Academy with being an old-boys network. In fact, the Academy simply reflects the business. It’s not that there are floods of working women in the industry trying to get into the Academy; instead, there are floods of women trying to get work in the industry. http://variety.com/2014/film/news/oscars-diverse-presenter-list-a-signal-of-a-changing-business-1201122942/