Nearly 700 people were invited, with a focus on women and ethnic
minorities.
Should all of those agree to join, the demographic of the
membership would only slightly change from being mostly white, male and over
60.
Male membership would slip from 75% to 73% - white membership
from 92% to 89%.
There are currently more than 6,000 members of the academy.
Almost half the people who have been asked to join are women and
almost as many are people of colour.
The new invitees include Star Wars actor John Boyega, Swedish
Oscar winner Alicia Vikander, Beasts of No Nation star Idris Elba and musician
Mary J Blige, the Academy said in a statement,
which listed the invitees in full.
Boyega tweeted his gratitude at being invited to
join, saying that it was "always a blessing to be one of the many Oscar
voters that will hopefully spark change".
Other British
inclusions include Harry Potter star Emma Watson and Belle director Amma
Asante, who wrote: "I
cannot lie. I like this!"
Ugly Betty star
America Ferrera also thanked the Academy, tweeting that it was a chance to "create
opportunity" for others.
Oscars
shake-up
For the second year
in a row, all of the acting nominees at February's 88th Academy Awards were white, sparking an outcry.
The protests led to
an unprecedented debate about
racial equality in
the film industry - characterised on social media by the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite
- and caused several Hollywood stars to boycott the awards ceremony.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences then agreed to a
shake up of its membership - traditionally seen as old, white and male - to
bring in more women and members of ethnic minorities.
Representative
Image
Source: BBC
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