Exclusive: Christine Simmons isn’t the top head of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as new CEO Bill Cramer takes the helm of the Oscars body today, weeks before the start date.
Simmons’ departure takes effect immediately, but a successor has not been named. The Academy announced his departure via email this morning and expressed his best wishes for his as yet undetermined future. Simmons “is no longer with the academy”, we read in part in the letter.
Cramer takes up his new executive position today, the first day of AMPAS’s new fiscal year, instead of the July 18 that was set when the move was announced on June 7. 11 years of career.
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Cramer, who is also director and president of the Museum of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, made it clear during his interview for the CEO job that he expected the freedom to appoint or retain key staff members, according to people briefed on the situation. . Though he was supposed to take office on July 18, the looming new awards season has created pressure to make changes quickly.
Simmons, who oversaw much of the academy’s internal administration, was part of a small group that shared responsibility for this year’s show and will soon face major decisions regarding next year’s 95th Academy Awards. .
Simmons joined the Academy as COO in late 2018 after a quiet but lengthy search as president and COO of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. AMPAS hasn’t had an COO since Rick Robertson stepped down in 2013.
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Thursday marked the last day of the Academy’s fiscal year, the results of which are not expected to be made public for another five or six months. A year earlier, the group saw its award revenue plummet when ABC slashed the rates on its national Oscar broadcast. The decline was offset by strong returns on investment that year and job cuts were generally avoided.
News of the AMPAS executive reshuffle comes just as Hollywood and the country prepare for the long Independence Day weekend.
Source: Deadline
