Voting for the 2018 Oscar winners ended on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. PT. Academy members had till that deadline to cast their ballots in the 24 competitive categories. The winners will be revealed during the live ABC telecast of the 90th annual Academy Awards on March 4.
In order to predict what will win at the Oscars, you have to know who are voting for these awards. The current roll of voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences numbers 7,258; five years ago, it stood at 5,856. This uptick in membership is the result of the decision by the academy to do away with the cap that allowed only for replacement of those members who had died or declined to renew.
In the summer of 2017, the academy invited 774 individuals who work both in front of and behind the camera to join. (Read the full report on the Oscar class of 2017.) This year’s roster was even larger and more diverse than the then-record 683 invited in 2016. And it needed to be if the academy is to have a realistic chance of reaching its goal of doubling the number of women and minority members by 2020 from those numbers as of 2016.
The process by which these new Oscar voters were chosen was dictated by academy bylaw Article III, Section 1:
Membership shall be by invitation of the Board of Governors. Invitations to active membership shall be limited to those persons active in the motion picture arts and sciences, or credited with screen achievements, or who have otherwise achieved distinction in the motion picture arts and sciences and who, in the opinion of the Board, are qualified for membership.
Applicants needed to be sponsored by two members of the branch, approved by the membership committee of that branch and then by the board of governors. Each of the 17 branches sets out its own criteria for admission. All include a proviso that allows for admission of those who have been nominated for an Oscar. And the executive committee of each branch can deem someone to have “achieved unique distinction, earned special merit or made an outstanding contribution.”
Beyond these two catch-alls, there were varying degrees of experience required. All branches require that the credits submitted be for films “of a caliber that reflect the high standards of the academy.”
Below, we break down the membership rules and both the current and last year’s count of voters in each branch. And we detail the various ways in which someone can be admitted as a member-at-large.
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Actors Branch: 1,218 members (up from 1,158)
scripted roles in three films, with at least one of these from the past five years.
Casting Directors Branch: 113 members (up from 99)
screen credit on at least 10 films over a period of no less than eight years.
Cinematographers Branch: 246 members (up from 240)
director of photography on two films, with at least one of these from the past three years (until 2015, five credits were needed).
Costume Designers Branch: 128 members (up from 117)
screen credit on at least four films (down from six) over a period of no less than five years.
Designers Branch: 308 members (up from 295)
screen credit as Production Designer, Art Director or Set Decorator on at least four films over a period of no less than five years; Art Directors working under supervision of Production Designers must have six credits.
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Directors Branch: 512 members (up from 473)
director of two films, with at least one of these from the past 10 years.
Documentary Branch: 320 members (up from 277)
director and/or producer of two documentary films, with at least one of these from the past five years.
Executive Branch: 499 members (up from 468)
at least five years experience as a senior executive at an organization producing and/or distributing films, which has been in business at least five years and released three films (or two animated films) in that time. Twenty years of work in the film business guarantees life-time membership.
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Film Editors Branch: 298 members (up from 274)
screen credit on four films, at least two of which must be single card credits; shared credits and supervising film editor credits count as 1/2 each.
Makeup & Hairstyling Branch: 183 members (up from 157)
supervisory position screen credit on at least five films, three of which were within the last seven years.
Members-At-Large: 264 members (up from 233)
encompasses all those who work in fields for which the academy has no branch.
(i) general: eight years experience; or sitting executive director of DGA, SAG, PGA, WGA and IATSE; or two years of distinction with uanimous approval of membership committee.
(ii) creative science & technology: eight years experience; or contribution to creative process; or distinction with 3/4 approval of Creative Science and Technology sub-committee.
(iii) production: eight years experience; or five years as head of production, visual effects production, post-production.
(iv) stunt coordinator: eight years experience and eight screen credits (down from 10 and 10 respectively).
Music Branch: 305 members (up from 279)
screen credit on at least three films, with at least one of these from the past six years.
Producers Branch: 524 members (up from 504)
screen credit on at least two films, with at least one of these from the past 10 years.
Public Relations Branch: 416 members (up from 389)
distinction in field of publicity, advertising or promotion of film AND at least 10 years experience with at least five of those as head of a department or as chief strategist of a company involved in producing, distributing, marketing or publicizing films (the latter requirement can be waived by a two-third majority of the branch executive committee) OR two years as the most senior marketing executive at a motion picture production/distribution company (again, with two-thirds approval).
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Short Films and Feature Animation Branch: 565 members (up from 479)
screen credit in a key creative role on at least two films (down from three).
Sound Branch: 487 members (up from 456)
eight years experience with at least five of those as mixer, engineer or supervising sound editor (in the case of the latter, credit on at least five films).
Visual Effects Branch: 450 members (up from 383)
eight years experience in a key creative role.
Writers Branch: 422 members (up from 406)
screen credit on at least two films.
Be sure to make your Oscar predictions so that Hollywood studio executives can see how their films are faring in our Academy Awards odds. Don’t be afraid to jump in now since you can keep changing your predictions until just before winners are announced on March 4.
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