Bill Mechanic’s Guide for Review so Movie Academy Can Shoot All Cylinders – Guest Column

Editor’s Note: Bill Mechanics was President and CEO of Pandemonium Films and President and CEO of Paramount, formerly of Disney and Fox Filmed Entertainment when this studio was created. Titanic, X-Men, Independence Day Y Brave heart. He is also a former producer of Oscar nominated films and such as Oscar cutting crest Y coralAnd he was a member of the Academy’s Board of Directors in 2018 until his resignation. Evaluate the upcoming elections of this body.

A few years ago (amazing how time flies during a pandemic), I resigned as governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for two reasons: 1) there were factions on the board who wanted everything to be the status quo . Despite the evidence of inadequate management and expected changes in the sector; And 2) I thought a strong and clear resignation might force a silent majority of members to speak up and force change. Mistaken. The evil got worse. The car that started to collapse is now broken down.

Michael Cieply’s latest article on whether this is, in some ways, a revealing moment for AMPAS is very polite. I would say this is a sticking point, perhaps the last chance for the institution to collapse in a decade. There are government elections this week and if the status quo holds up, someone will soon be selling NFT pieces.

The academy is chaotic from top to bottom. He no longer knows what his mission is; It doesn’t even try to present the views or wishes of its members and is a public relations fiasco, ranging from the worst decision on how to “renew” the Oscars to managerial incompetence when something like “Slap” happens on national television.

I’m not saying that everything wrong is done with bad intentions, quite the opposite. I have never seen so many bad results with only good intentions. Leadership of the Academy is not on a slippery slope. The way beyond. I am standing on the dirty sand.

The academy has emerged as a means of presenting a positive image of a scandal-ridden industry; It was created to reward cinematic excellence. How does it work?

Cieply’s work that provides “daylight” (eg transparency and inclusiveness) can be the starting point. These are good goals because there is virtually no sign of transparency (on the contrary) and commitment. Michael Schumberg seems to have spoken for many, many people when he filed a lawsuit against the academy in an attempt to get votes and forums for members and not just governors.

But the academy’s leadership doesn’t want to listen to the members who are the backbone of the organization, who have won awards and made great films. Leadership is designed to serve only one’s own views and agendas. In fact, when I went to the orientation session before my second term as governor, we were told that our constituency was not the members or our branch, but the council itself!

These are crazy!

But the most important thing that needs to be corrected is not this nonsense. It’s relatively simple because it starts with the right people. The management, the CEO, the president and the executive committee start here. This is why these elections are so critical. Change starts from the top. Which means that electing a third of the board from the branches this week is the only way to solve the problems. And the first thing they need to do is take urgent action to postpone the vote to the executive table, because the new governors don’t even know where to sit at the table, especially because they understand the process and the people running around. They do not understand that there are now so many governors that it is impossible to have a meaningful discussion and that they are asked to change the decisions that the Executive Committee makes.

Electing the governors themselves is part of the problem. The sections do not manage the constituencies of candidates and, in fact, prohibit anyone from conducting a legitimate campaign, expressing their positions and points of view.

Basically, all a person knows are candidates’ resumes, which, of course, are exceptional. The academy is full of the best and brightest languages. But that doesn’t make them the best representatives. This does not mean that they have the intention or the skills to correct the organization. Indeed, this is a problem.

Candidates can make voluntary statements, but when I review my branch, they mostly tell me that everyone is proud to serve. Nobody says it’s a disaster. Not a single idea what’s wrong; Forget the details of how to fix it.

Governors need to renew the Academy’s mission, change the job description [outgoing CEO Dawn] Hudson
Replace, modify the voting procedure of the Executive Committee, reduce the number of the council by at least a third or a half and modify the process of election of governors. Then you can start creating an academy that will be equipped for us in the future.

Each member must request an opinion from the branch candidates this week before voting to request an open forum. If the current branch governor is to be re-elected, it may be looking for another option, given the deterioration of the situation before the status quo.

Daylight may then have a chance to follow.