Free Republic

As promised when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its Academy Aperture 2025 initiative in June, new standards of representation and inclusion have been announced by AMPAS today that will gradually be put in place for the 94th (2022) and 95th (2023) Oscars, but in full effect beginning with the 96th Academy Awards in 2024. In its most dramatic swing towards true diversity, Oscar is laying down significant requirements in order to be eligible for Hollywood’s most sought after prize: Best Picture. Having at least one Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, Black/African American, Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native, Middle Eastern/North African, Native...

The 92nd Academy Awards show was one of the last big events in 2020 before life stopped for the Wuhan Virus. If people had known about a future of masks and isolation, maybe more Americans would have watched than the record low of 23.6 million viewers. But then again, perhaps not, given that winners cannot seem to stop lecturing Americans for being hate-filled, racist, misogynistic yutzes. The smart thing for the Academy to do in the face of a seemingly unstoppable ratings hemorrhage would be to make the Oscar show more friendly to the viewers. The Academy could nominate...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new set of standards for the Academy Awards's best picture category on Tuesday as part of efforts to improve representation in film for underrepresented racial minorities, women, LGBTQ people and people with disabilities. A statement on the Academy's website detailed four categories of standards for films, at least two of which a film must meet in order to be considered for a best picture nomination. The four standards deal with a variety of issues including on-screen representation for actors and actresses of underrepresented groups in both casting and in the...

Ahead of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy’s fifth anniversary, the Academy has announced a new set of inclusion requirements films must meet to be awards-eligible. To be eligible for best picture, films must meet the standards of two out of four categories laid out in a press release on Tuesday: “Onscreen Representation, Themes and Narratives,” “Creative Leadership and Project Team,” “Industry Access and Opportunities” and “Audience Development.” Recent best picture nominees including “1917” and “The Irishman” may have struggled to meet the new onscreen standards that will require at least one of the following criterion to be met: at least one of...

Before the FAA changed the hiring protocol in 2014, the majority of new air traffic control hires had served as controllers in the military or graduated from an FAA-approved Collegiate Training Initiative program — resulting in associate’s or bachelor’s degrees — and were given preference in hiring because of that experience. ... Since 2014, any applicants with aviation degrees or military service are now on equal footing with people without any experience, because the first step to being hired means passing the questionnaire. In some cases, applicants with no experience are passing the questionnaire while those with academic training degrees...