The Academy has hired Fernando Garcia to work with members, oversee process of submissions and will also work with the Office of Representation, Inclusion and Equity to “heighten awareness of diverse filmmakers worldwide who meet membership criteria.”
I thought occurred to me last night that I will bet there are some filmmakers who will not follow these rules because they do not plan to submit their film for the Oscars. For some, that will honestly be a blessing in disguise as they know the Oscar gauntlet can often be a grueling, exhausting experience. Not in terms of anything to do with equity but just in terms of publicity and interviews, aka the “dog and pony show.”
There is also a quiet conversation going on in Hollywood for the past ten years as to what the Oscars even mean at all anymore. Who watches them, who watches the movies and what is the point. If they aren’t honoring films that include the public at large anymore, which they haven’t really done much in the past two decades, then it makes sense that they tinker with how they reflect the industry broadly.
The new requirements can be fitted like a gold sticker on all of their films to say that they covered their part of it. The members, however, will still be carefully watched to make sure all of their choices are up to code. And if they aren’t, Twitter will make them famous.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how everything shakes out. Here is the press release.
FERNANDO GARCIA NAMED ACADEMY EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,
MEMBER RELATIONS AND AWARDS
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has named Fernando Garcia as its Executive Vice President, Member Relations and Awards.
Garcia will lead engagement and outreach initiatives for the organization’s worldwide membership of over 10,000 artists, filmmakers and executives, and oversee Academy Awards® processes for submissions, nominations, voting and balloting. Garcia will also work with the Academy’s Office of Representation, Inclusion and Equity and the Branch Executive Committees on member representation and inclusion efforts, heightening awareness of diverse filmmakers worldwide who meet membership criteria. He will report to Academy COO Christine Simmons.
“Fernando is an innovative thinker with a deep passion for movies and a true appreciation for the people who make them,” said Simmons. “He joins the Academy’s leadership at a pivotal time, and we are confident he is just the person to lead our global membership forward and further the Academy’s mission to support, identify and champion talent in our filmmaking community.”
Garcia has over two decades of experience in developing marketing and publicity campaigns for films across a range of special projects and events, domestic and international film festivals, brand partnerships and promotions, publicity stunts, conventions, and film and television awards campaigns. He most recently served as president of The Fernando Garcia Company, where his clients included Amazon Studios, Disney, NBC, New Regency and Prime Video. Previously, he served as vice president of special projects & events at Paramount Pictures. He has worked on a diverse slate of films including “Dreamgirls,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” four films in the “Transformers” franchise, “Iron Man,” “Kung Fu Panda,” the franchise reboot of “Star Trek,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” “World War Z,” “Nebraska” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” He began his career at DreamWorks Pictures on the films “Almost Famous” and “Gladiator,” and helped develop the launch of the “Shrek” film franchise. Garcia has worked with major marketing and publicity entities all over the world including the United Kingdom, Russia, Hong Kong, China, Brazil, Italy, Mexico and France. He is a member of the Academy’s Marketing and Public Relations Branch.
Garcia is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts and Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He is on the Western Council of the Actors Fund of America and works with Conservation International and the USC Alumni Association.
“I’m so thrilled to be joining the Academy’s leadership team,” said Garcia. “I look forward to working with them to find new ways of bringing together the incredible individuals who create the films we all love, and to uplifting great filmmaking from all around the world.”
Garcia starts February 8.
