Keith David

Question: I wish I had submitted this last year but I never got around to it. So I’m asking now: Why is there such a small number of voting Academy members?

Answer: You'd think that if the Academy comprises actors, directors, producers and all those other craftspeople, there would be a lot more voting members. As of 2006, there are 5,798 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, divided among 14 branches: actors (the largest by a considerable margin), art directors, cinematographers, directors, documentary filmmakers, executives, film editors, music composers, producers, publicists, animators, sound technicians, visual-effects artists and screenwriters. Clearly, every person working in those fields is not a member of the Academy: It’s an invitation-only organization, and candidates for membership are proposed by current members and then “considered by committees made up of prominent representatives of the organiza read more