#OscarsSoWhite is getting the globe interested.
On Monday evening, I was asked to appear on CCTV9 World Insight – the Beijing-based English-language Chinese News in Review television program. They wanted to discuss the Oscar rules announced Friday night, which will expand the Academy membership dramatically over the next five years, focusing on new members who are women and people of color. The Oscars are also instituting a “phase-out” process, where older members will have to demonstrate that they have been active in the industry within the last ten years to maintain their voting status.
The questions were the same that we are all asking – is the problem with the Academy voters? Or is it really about access to projects? Access to distribution for films with people of color?
One news piece is not going to change the world, but I can promise that the world is looking at Hollywood. Can we (and the Oscars) do better to reflect the world we actually live in? As I say at the end of the interview, I truly hope so.
