322 names have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as released in an Academy press release on Friday. All of these members have the option to join the Academy and vote on the nominations and winners for the Academy Awards. Each member is invited to join a various branch (actors, writers, directors, etc.) and the process allows that members to vote for the corresponding award at Oscars (actors nominate other actors, etc.) with all members allowed to participate in nominating Best Picture candidates. Once nominations are revealed, the entire Academy votes in all categories to declare a winner. New members for 2015 will be welcomed this coming September, however it will not be made public on who of the 322 names will officially become members.
An even larger task for the Academy comes in the name of diversity. This years’ invitee list comes on the heels of the heavily criticized “Oscars So White” telecast in which all twenty acting nominees were white and all five directing nominees where men and mostly white (eventually winner Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu is from Mexico). The nature of diversity has been a consistent thread of controversy within the Academy and the industry as a whole. This is something the Academy has been trying to adjust with recent years and something that has put Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs somewhat on the defensive. In an effort to change the statistic that the Academy is dominated primarily by older white men, a large number of the 2015 class of invites includes younger artists– with a conscious blend of women and people of color.
Among the crop include actors David Oyelowo (who many felt was wrongly overdue for his critically acclaimed performance in Selma), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Beyond the Lights), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) and Choi Min-sik (Oldboy). Invitees to the directors branch include Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer), Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff) and Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man) and new entries to the writers branch include Rick Famuyiwa (Dope) and Maya Forbes (Infinitely Polar Bear).
Of course, the easiest way to gain access to the Academy is to become a nominee, even if it’s not entire surefire. Among the class of 2014 Oscar nominees and winners that have been invited to join include Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor winners Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) as well as recent nominees Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) and Emma Stone (Birdman).
This announcement comes on the heels of another big news event confirmed by the Academy recently. It was recently announced that despite some nods against maintaining the practice of nominating between five and ten Best Picture nominees, AMPAS will still abide by that guideline. Furthermore, the protocol of the winners of the Best Picture prize will be decided upon however is deemed eligible for the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award handed out annually. A producer must be listed there or must have appealed to the PGA. Other new rules included expansions in the shortlists for the Visual Effects category (which will go up from 10 to 20) and the Documentary Short Subject category (which will go up from 8 to 10) and the Animated and Live Action Short Subject candidates must have an awards qualifying run in a Los Angeles County theater for seven consecutive days with at least one show time per day to qualify for prizes, respectively.
Full list of all 322 invited members below:
ACTORS
- Elizabeth Banks- Love and Mercy, The Hunger Games
- Choi Min-sik- Lucy, Oldboy
- Benedict Cumberbatch- The Imitation Game, Star Trek Into Darkness
- Martin Freeman- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Hot Fuzz
- Heather Graham- The Hangover, Boogie Nights
- Tom Hardy- Mad Max: Fury Road, Inception
- Kevin Hart- The Wedding Ringer, Ride Along
- Felicity Jones- The Theory of Everything, Like Crazy
- Stephen Lang- Avatar, The Men Who Stare at Goats
- Jodi Long- A Picture of You, Beginners
- John Carroll Lynch- Shutter Island, Zodiac
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw- Beyond the Lights, Belle
- Denis O’Hare- Milk, Michael Clayton
- Michael O’Neill- Dallas Buyers Club, Transformers
- David Oyelowo, Selma, A Most Violent Year
- Dev Patel- The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Slumdog Millionaire
- Rosamund Pike- Gone Girl, Pride & Prejudice
- Chris Pine- Into the Woods, Star Trek
- Daniel Radcliffe- Kill Your Darlings, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Eddie Redmayne- The Theory of Everything, Les Misérables
- Jason Segel- The Five-Year Engagement, The Muppets
- J.K. Simmons- Whiplash, Juno
- Sonny Skyhawk- Geronimo: An American Legend, Young Guns II
- Song Kang-ho- Snowpiercer, The Host
- Emma Stone- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Help
CASTING DIRECTORS
- Lucy Bevan- Cinderella, The Hundred-Foot Journey
- Victoria Burrows- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, King Kong
- Aisha Coley- Selma, Beyond the Lights
- Patricia DiCerto- Blue Jasmine, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- Mary Hidalgo- The LEGO Movie, The Incredibles
- Roger Mussenden- X-Men: Days of Future Past, Get Smart
- Lucie Robitaille- Incendies, The Barbarian Invasions
- Luis San Narciso- The Skin I Live In, The Sea Inside
- April Webster- Tomorrowland, Star Trek
- Tricia Wood- Woman in Gold, The Lincoln Lawyer
CINEMATOGRAPHERS
- Christopher Blauvlet- The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The Bling Ring
- Adriano Goldman- August: Osage County, Jane Eyre
- Ben Kasulke- Laggies, Safety Not Guaranteed
- Ryszard Lenczewski- Ida, Margaret
- Jody Lee Lipes- Ballet 422, Martha Marcy May Marlene
- Sharone Meir- Whiplash, Mean Creek
- Rachel Morrison- Cake, Fruitvale Station
- Tristan Oliver- ParaNorman, Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Hoyte Van Hoytema- Interstellar, Her
- Roman Vasyanov- Fury, End of Watch
- Lukasz Zal- Ida, Joanna
COSTUME DESIGNERS
- Kasia Walicka Maimone- Foxcatcher, Moonrise Kingdom
- Francesca Livia Sartori- Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy, When the Night
- Jany Temime- Gravity, Skyfall
DESIGNERS
- Ramsey Avery- Tomorrowland, Star Trek Into Darkness
- Gae Buckley- The Book of Eli, He’s Just Not That Into You
- Keith Brian Burns- The Best Man Holiday, 2 Fast 2 Furious
- Lester W. Cohen- Fading Gigolo, Cop Land
- Suzie Davies- Mr. Turner, The Children
- John F. Fenner- The Phantom of the Opera, The Talented Mr. Ripley
- Derek R. Hill- Southpaw, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Dryn Imagire- Cars 2, Up
- Dina Lipton- Baggage Claim, Love Hurts
- Tatiana Macdonald- The Imitation Game, The Invisible Woman
- Dominic Masters- Woman in Gold, Casino Royale
- Doug Meerdink- Jurassic World, Ocean’s Thirteen
- Chris Spellman- Paper Towns, This Is the End
- Patrick Tatopoulos- 300: Rise of an Empire, Total Recall
DIRECTORS
- Michael Binder- Black or White, Reign Over Me
- Bong Joon-ho- Snowpiercer, Mother
- Niki Caro- North Country, Whale Rider
- Damien Chazelle*- Whiplash, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
- Simon Curtis- Woman in Gold, My Week with Marilyn
- François Girard- Silk, The Red Violin
- F. Gary Gray- The Italian Job, Friday
- James Gunn- Guardians of the Galaxy, Super
- Im Kwon-taek- Painted Fire, Chunhyang
- Stan Lathan- Beat Street, Amazing Grace
- Malcolm D. Lee*- The Best Man Holiday, The Best Man
- Justin Lin- Fast & Furious 6, Better Luck Tomorrow
- François Ozon- Young & Beautiful, Swimming Pool
- Pawel Pawlikowski*- Ida, My Summer in Love
- Kelly Reichardt- Meek’s Cutoff, Wendy and Lucy
- Ira Sachs- Love Is Strange, Keep the Lights On
- Lynn Shelton- Laggies, Your Sister’s Sister
- Abderrahmane Sissako*- Timbuktu, Bamako
- Damián Szifron*- Wild Tales, On Probation
- Fernando Trueba- Chico & Rita, Belle Epoque
- Morten Tyldum- The Imitation Game, Headhunters
- Zaza Urushadze- Tangerines, The Guardian
- Wayne Wang- Anywhere but Here, The Joy Luck Club
- Edgar Wright- The World’s End, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- Joe Wright- Anna Karenina, Atonement
- Andrey Zvyaginstev*- Leviathan, Elena
DOCUMENTARY
- Richard Berge- The Island President, The Rape of Europa
- Mathilde Bonnefoy*- Citizenfour, The Invisibles
- Emad Burnat- 5 Broken Cameras
- Guy Davidi- 5 Broken Cameras, Interrupted Streams
- Geralyn Dreyfous- The Square, The Invisible War
- Lewis Erskine- Free Angela: And All Political Prisoners, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
- Shana Hagan- Misconception, This Film Is Not Yet Rated
- Tony Hardmon- Detropia, Semper Fi: Always Faithful
- Leonard Retel Helmrich- Position Among the Stars, Shape of the Moon
- Pirjo Honkasalo- The 3 Rooms of Melancholia, Atman
- Judy Irving- Pelican Dreams, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
- Robert Kenner- Merchants of Doubt, Food, Inc.
- Marc Levin- Mr. Untouchable, The Last Party
- Jesse Moss- The Overnighters, Full Battle Rattle
- Pratibha Parmar- Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth, A Place of Rage
- Paula DuPre’ Pesmen- Keep On Keepin’ On, The Cove
- Gordon Quinn- Life Itself, Hoop Dreams
- Kim Roberts- Waiting for ‘Superman’, Lost Boys of Sudan
- Richard Rowley- Dirty Wars, The Fourth World War
- João Moreira Salles- Santiago, Intermissions
- Ondi Timoner- We Live in Public, Dig!
EXECUTIVES
- Carolyn Blackwood
- Robbie Brenner
- Lia Buman
- Steve Burke
- David Fenkel
- Mellody Hobson
- Brian Keane
- Steven Paul O’Dell
- Jim Orr
- Mark Rachesky
- Ted Sarandos
- Jeff Shell
FILM EDITORS
- Craig Alpert- Pitch Perfect 2, Pineapple Express
- Micky Audsley- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Dirty Pretty Things
- Pablo Barbieri- Wild Tales, The Aerial
- Nadia Ben Rachid- Timbuktu, Bamako
- Kristina Boden- The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Cake
- Mathilde Bonnefoy*- Citizenfour, Run Lola Run
- Julian Clarke- Chappie, District 9
- Douglas Crise- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Babel
- Tom Cross- Whiplash, Any Day Now
- Jinx Godfrey- The Theory of Everything, Man on Wire
- Robert Grahamjones- Brave, Ratatouille
- Masahiro Hirakubo- Virunga, The Duchess
- Jarosław Kaminiński- Ida, Aftermath
- William Kerr- Bridesmaids, I Love, Man
- Nico Leunen- Lost River, The Broken Circle Breakdown
- Mike McCusker- Get On Up, 3:10 to Yuma
- Tim Mertens- Big Hero 6, Wreck-It Ralph
- Barney Pilling- The Grand Budapest Hotel, An Education
- David Rennie- 22 Jump Street, Office Space
- Gary D. Roach- American Sniper, Prisoners
- Michael L. Sale- We’re the Millers, Bridesmaids
- Stephen Schaffer- Cars 2, WALL-E
- Job ter Burg- Borgman, Winter in Wartime
- Peter Teschner- St. Vincent, Horrible Bosses
- Tara Timpone- Friends with Kids, Bad Teacher
- MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLISTS
- Frida S. Aradottir- August: Osage County, A Serious Man
- Victoria Down- Big Eyes, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Frances Hannon- The Grand Budapest Hotel, The King’s Speech
- Todd Kleitsch- Run All Night, Black Swan
- Dennis Liddiard- Foxcatcher, Jobs
- Jerry Popolis- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Noah
- Jainine Rath-Thompson- Star Trek Into Darkness, Bridesmaids
- Johnny Villanueva- The Gambler, The Fighter
- David White- Guardians of the Galaxy, La Vie en Rose
- Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou- Guardians of the Galaxy, An Education
MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
- Andy Armstrong
- Wayne Billheimer
- Kevin Brownlow
- Simon Crane
- Debbie Denise
- Jeff Habberstad
- Andy Hendrickson
- Elissa M. Rashkin Loparco
- Guido Quaroni
- Nicole Scalise
- Steven J. Scott
- Leon D. Silverman
- Gregg Smrz
- Lynda Ellenshaw Thompson
- Steve Venezia
MUSIC
- Tyler Bates- John Wick, Guardians of the Galaxy
- Alex Gibson- Interstellar, The Dark Knight
- Jonny Greenwood- Inherent Vice, The Master
- David Grusin- Skating to New York, The Firm
- Alex Heffes- Love and Honor, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
- Lisa Jaime- Annie, Rock of Ages
- Jóhann Jóhannsson- The Theory of Everything, Prisoners
- Laura Karpman- States of Grace, Black Nativity
- Christopher Lennertz- The Wedding Ringer, Horrible Bosses
- Lonnie Lynn- Selma, Freedom Writers
- Chris McGeary- Jersey Boys, RoboCop
- Sergio Mendes- Rio 2, Rio
- Daniel Pinder- Big Hero 6, Captain Phillips
- Trent Reznor- Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Atticus Ross- Love & Mercy, The Social Network
- John Stephens- Selma, Django Unchained
- Marc Streitenfeld- Poltergeist, Prometheus
- Erica Weis- Spy, The Heat
- Gary Yershon- Mr. Turner, Another Year
PRODUCERS
- Caroline Baron- Capote, Monsoon Wedding
- Effie T. Brown- Dear White People, Real Woman Have Curves
- Terence Chang- Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, Face/Off
- Wyck Godfrey- The Fault in Our Stars, Twilight
- Jeremey Kleiner- Selma, 12 Years a Slave
- Pamela Koffler- Still Alice, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- Gina Kwon- Camp X-Ray, Me and You and Everyone We Know
- Dan Lin- The LEGO Movie, Sherlock Holmes
- Eric Newman- RoboCop, Children of Men
- Bruna Papandrea- Wild, All Good Things
- Lydia Dean Pilcher- Cutie and the Boxer, The Darjeeling Limited
- Rebecca Yeldham- On the Road, The Kite Runner
PUBLIC RELATIONS
- Jennifer Allen
- Asad Ayaz
- Dawn Baillie
- Andrew Bernstein
- Liz Biber
- Mara Buxbaum
- Lee Ginsberg
- R. Jeff Hill
- Michelle Hooper
- Chris Libby
- Susan Norget
- Lewis Oberlander
- Gordon Paddison
- Elias Plishner
- David Pollick
- Weiman Seid
- LeeAnne Stables
- Ryan Stankevich
- Bonnie Voland
SHORT FILMS AND FEATURE ANIMATION
- Alan Barillaro- Brave, WALL-E
- Kristine Belson- The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon
- Darlie Brewster- Curious George, The Prince of Egypt
- Roy Conli- Big Hero 6, Tangled
- Ronnie Del Carmen- Up, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
- Paul Felix- Big Hero 6, Lilo & Stitch
- Michael Fukushima- Me and My Moulton, Dimanche/Sunday
- Don Hall- Big Hero 6, Winnie the Pooh
- Talkhon Hamzavi- Parvaneh, Taub
- Hu Wei- Butter Lamp, Le Propriétaire
- Jin Kim- Big Hero 6, Bolt
- Mat Kirkby- The Phone Call, Hard to Swallow
- David Kneupper- Alex and Sylvia, The Civil War in 4 Minutes
- Michael Lennox- Boogaloo and Graham, The Back of Beyond
- Fabio Lignin- How to Train Your Dragon 2, Puss in Boots
- James Lucas- The Phone Call
- Patrick Osbourne- Feast, Paperman
- Jerome Ranft- Toy Story 3, Ratatouille
- Jim Reardon- Wreck-It Ralph, WALL-E
- Kristina Reed- Feast, Paperman
- Jason Reisg- Home, Shrek Forever After
- Nichols Schmerki- Habana, Logorama
- Anthony Stacchi- The Boxtrolls, Open Seasoan
- Isao Takahata- The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Grave of the Fireflies
- Michael Thurmeier- Ice Age: Continental Drift, No Time for Nuts
- Marlon West- Frozen, The Princess and the Frog
SOUND
- Ray Beckett- Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker
- Odin Benitez- Frozen, Silver Linings Playbook
- Ron Bochar- Mortdecai, Moneyball
- Jason Canovas- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, World War Z
- Thomas Curley- Whiplash, The Spectacular Now
- Michael Dressel- American Sniper, Insterstellar
- Mary H. Ellis- Vacation, Prisoners
- Stephanie Flack- Jupiter Ascending, Ender’s Game
- Martín Hernández- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of the Ignorance), Biutiful
- Dean Humphreys- Taken 3, The Pianist
- William Johnston- Vice President of Engineering, Formose Group
- Shawn Jones- Iron Man 3, Drive
- Daniel Laurie- Inside Out, Big Hero 6
- David Lee- Unbroken, The Matrix
- Craig Mann- Dope, Whiplash
- Kyrsten Mate- Tomorrowland, Guardians of the Galaxy
- Shannon J. Mills- Inside Out, Big Hero 6
- Bryan K. Pennington- Transformers: Age of Extinction, Promised Land
- Juan P. Peralta- Tomorrowland, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- John Ross- Danny Collins, American Hustle
- Peter Staubli- San Andreas, Skyfall
- Mark Taylor- Edge of Tomorrow, Captain Phillips
- Addison Teague- Big Hero 6, The Amazing Spider-Man
- Jon Title- San Andreas, The Divergent Series: Insurgent
- Thomas Varga- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Immigrant
- Ben Wilkins- Whiplash, Star Trek
VISUAL EFFECTS
- Nicolas Aithadi- Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: First Class
- Daniel Barrett- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- Stephane Ceretti- Guardians of the Galaxy, Cloud Atlas
- Paul Corbould- Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy
- Tim Crosbie- X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Wolverine
- Dan DeLeeuw- Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3
- Sean Faden- Fast & Furious 6, Let Me In
- Joe Farrell- The Wolf of Wall Street, Hereafter
- Scott R. Fisher- Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises
- Chris Harvey- Chappie, Fast & Furious 6
- Alex Jaeger- Tomorrowland, Marvel’s The Avengers
- Matt Kutcher- Focus, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- Andrew Lockley- Interstellar, Inception
- Gray Marshall- Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The First Avenger
- Carl Miller- Jurassic World, Elysium
- David Nakabayashi- Tomorrowland, Avatar
- Rocco Passionino- Avengers: Age of Ultron, Spider-Man 2
- Lou Pecora- X-Men: Days of Future Past, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- Cary Phillips- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- Ellen Poon- Frozen, Inception
- Edwin Rivera- 22 Jump Street, Moneyball
- Cameron Waldbauer- X-Men: Days of Future Past, Elysium
- Erik Winquist- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Avatar
WRITERS
- Armando Bo- Birdman of (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Biutiful
- Damien Chazelle*- Whiplash, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
- Álex de la Iglesia- El Crimen Perfecto, The Day of the Beast
- Rick Famuyiwa- Dope, The Woods
- Maya Forbes- Infinitely Polar Bear, Monsters vs Aliens
- E. Max Fyre- Foxcatcher, Something Wild
- Nicolás Giacobone- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Biutiful
- Dan Gilroy- Nightcrawler, The Bourne Legacy
- Jorge Guerricaechevarría- Cell 211, The Day of the Beast
- Rita Hsiao- Toy Story 2, Mulan
- Simon Kinberg- X-Men: Days of Future Past, Sherlock Holmes
- Malcolm D. Lee*- The Best Man Holiday, The Best Man
- Christopher Markus- Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The First Avenger
- Stephen McFeely- Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The First Avenger
- Graham Moore- The Imitation Game
- Pawel Pawlikowski*- Ida, My Summer of Love
- Abderrahmane Sissako*- Timbuktu, Bamako
- Damián Szifron*- Wild Tales, Probation
- Kessen Tall- Timbuktu
- Tyger Williams- The Perfect Guy, Menace II Society
- Andrey Zvyagintsev*- Leviathan, Elena
ASSOCIATES
- Victoria Belfrage
- Josh Braun
- Wayne Fitterman
- Sharon Jackson
- Patricia Keighley
- Cliff Roberts
- Elyse Scherz
- James Toth
- Bart Walker
*Notes members that have been selected to join multiple branches of the Academy. A member can opt to join only one branch in a given year though its possible for a member to be a part of multiple branches.