Pedro Pascal to Serve as Presenter at This Year’s Academy Awards Show

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Pedro Pascal is headed to the Oscars

The 47-year-old Chilean actor appears on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ final list of names chosen as presenters for the 95th annual Academy Awards.

Pedro Pascal

In addition to Pascal, the latest round of stars set to present includes Eva Longoria, Halle Berry, Paul Dano, Cara Delevingne, Kate Hudson, Mindy Kaling, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Olsen and John Travolta, executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney have announced.

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12, at Ovation’s Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Previously announced Oscars presenters include Riz Ahmed, Halle Bailey, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayek Pinault, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Nicole Kidman, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Florence Pugh, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Donnie Yen.

Antonio Banderas to Serve as Presenter During Academy Awards Show

Antonio Banderas is headed to the Oscars

The 62-year-old Spanish actor and director has been added to the presenter ranks for this weekend’s Academy Awards show by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS).

Antonio BanderasBanderas is among a list of recently added presenters that includes Halle Bailey, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman, Florence Pugh and Sigourney Weaver.

They join the previously announced Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña and Donnie Yen.

More presenters will be revealed during the week.

The latest adds to Hollywood’s Big Night come just as Oscar voting is set to end, with ballots due at 5 p.m. PT tonight.

The months-long awards season culminates with the 95th annual Academy Awards, which will be handed out Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

ABC will air the ceremony live coast-to-coast starting at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET, along with more than 200 countries around the world.

Sofia Carson to Participate in Variety’s “FYC Fest: The Shortlist” Virtual Event

Sofia Carson has made the shortlist

The 29-year-old half-Colombian American actress/singer will take part in Variety’s second annual FYC Fest: The Shortlist.

Sofia CarsonIt’s a virtual event featuring 13 panels with the top contending filmmakers and artisans that were shortlisted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in the documentary film, international film, song, hair and makeup, animated short, live-action short film and visual effects categories.

Other Latinx artists joining Carson include Selena Gomez, Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Santiago Mitre.

Each conversation will last for 15 minutes and be moderated by a Variety editor.

Conversations include:

  • Colm Bairéad, director and writer of “The Quiet Girl”
  • Edward Berger, director, producer and writer of Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front”
  • Jason Billington, VFX supervisor of Amazon Films’ “Thirteen Lives”
  • Sofia Carson, performer and Diane Warren, songwriter of “Applause” from the film “Tell It Like a Woman”
  • Chanda Dancy, composer from the Sony Pictures film “Devotion”
  • Alexandre Desplat, composer for Netflix’s “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
  • Simon Franglen, composer; Joe Letteri, senior VFX supervisor; and Julian Howarth, sound mixer for Disney’s “Avatar: The Way of the Water”
  • Selena Gomez, co-songwriter of “My Mind & Me” from the Apple TV+ documentary “My Mind & Me”
  • Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director, producer and writer of Netflix’s “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”
  • Charlie Mackesy, author and co-director of the animated short film “The Boy, the Mole and the Horse”
  • Santiago Mitre, director, producer and writer of Amazon Films’ “Argentina, 1985”
  • Sukari Jones, songwriter; Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, executive producers and songwriters of “Good Afternoon” from Apple TV+’s “Spirited”
  • Steve Boeddeker, sound mixer; Geoffrey Baumann, VFX; and Camille Friend, hair artist, from Disney’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Registration is free but required for access. Register at today at https://varietyshortlist.splashthat.com/.

First Trailer Released for Sally Potter’s Short Film “Look at Me,” Starring Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem is drummin’ along…

The first trailer has been released for Sally Potter’s short film Look at Me, co-starring the 53-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor and Chris Rock ahead of its Out Of Competition premiere in Venice.

Javier BardemThe film touches on the issue of male anger.

Rock and Bardem play a gala organizer and drummer, respectively. Tensions between the two men are running high ahead of a performance at the gala by the latter, who violently vents his pent-up stress.

Shot three years ago, the work has taken on fresh resonance after Rock received an infamous slap from Will Smith while hosting the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony in March. Rock confirmed on Monday that he turned down an offer from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to host the 2023 ceremony.

The 16-minute work, also featuring American tap dancer Savion Glover, originally was conceived as a short story to be embedded within Potter’s 2020 feature The Roads Not Takenstarring Bardem as a writer in the early stages of dementia.

Produced by Christopher Sheppard at Adventure Pictures, it was shot over five days in New York and London in 2019.

“When I got into the cutting room, I saw how dynamic these titans of the entertainment world are together, their volatile, fiery on-screen relationship offset by the rhythms of the brilliant tap-dancer Savion Glover,” explained Potter.

“The destiny of the story was clear: it had nothing to do with the other project. It had to become a short film, a fast-moving portrait of conflict and love. The result is Look at Me.”

The short film’s screening in Venice coincides with the 30th anniversary of the premiere of Potter’s Oscar-nominated breakout second feature Orlando in competition at the festival in 1992.

The U.K.’s Bankside Films has boarded international sales on the short film ahead of its Venice debut.

“The combination of Sally Potter, Chris Rock and Javier Bardem is truly arresting in this mesmerizing short film which audiences are going to be thrilled to discover,” said Bankside co-founder and director Stephen Kelliher.

Bleecker Street will release the film in the U.S. shortly after its Venice premiere, with screenings at the Metrograph in New York alongside Potter’s Orlando as well as a qualifying run at a Laemmle Theatre in Los Angeles.

Look at Me also will be made available on Bleecker Street’s app early in 2023.

“I am thankful to Bleecker Street for taking short films seriously and am thrilled that they will be bringing Look at Me to audiences in cinemas and online at a time when its themes feel so urgent,” said Potter.

Ariana DeBose Among Nearly 400 Artists & Executives Invited to Join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 

Ariana DeBose isn’t just an honoree, she’s now a member…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 397 artists and executives, including the 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actress/singer, to join the Oscar organizer’s membership ranks.

Ariana DeBose,DeBose was named Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Academy Awards for her scene-stealing performance in West Side Story.

But DeBose isn’t the only Latinx talent invited to join AMPAS.

Other actors invited to join include Last Night in Soho star Anya Taylor-Joy, El Chicano’s Marco Rodriguez, In The HeightsOlga Merediz and tick, tick…BOOM’s Robin de Jesus.

The prospective 2022 class includes 71 Oscar nominees and 15 winners, with 44% of the invitees women, and 37% of the group belongs to underrepresented communities.

The Academy said that those who accept invitations will be the only additions to the membership in 2022. This year’s invitee total is two more than 2021’s class, which was preceded by a surge in membership as AMPAS focused on diversifying its rolls and expanding its international footprint following the #OscarsSoWhite backlash after the 2015 nominations, in which all 20 acting nominations were given to white actors.

The Academy’s push to diversify led to 683 invitees in 2016, 774 in 2017, 928 in 2018, 842 in 2019 and 819 in 2020. Its goal laid out in its Academy Aperture 2025 initiative was to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020, which it said last year it had exceeded. The new crop should allow it to exceed 10,000 total members.

Here are all the 2022 invitees per the Academy today (the asterisk indicates invites to more than one branch):

Actors
Funke Akindele – “Omo Ghetto: The Saga,” “Jenifa”
Caitríona Balfe – “Belfast,” “Ford v Ferrari”
Reed Birney – “Mass,” “Changeling”
Jessie Buckley – “The Lost Daughter,” “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”
Lori Tan Chinn – “Turning Red,” “Glengarry Glen Ross”
Daniel K. Daniel – “The Fugitive,” “A Soldier’s Story”
Ariana DeBose – “West Side Story,” “The Prom”
Robin de Jesús – “tick, tick…BOOM!,” “The Boys in the Band”
Jamie Dornan – “Belfast,” “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar”
Michael Greyeyes – “Wild Indian,” “Woman Walks Ahead”
Gaby Hoffmann – “C’mon C’mon,” “Wild”
Amir Jadidi – “A Hero,” “Cold Sweat”
Kajol – “My Name Is Khan,” “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…”
Troy Kotsur – “CODA,” “The Number 23”
Vincent Lindon – “Titane,” “The Measure of a Man”
BarBara Luna – “The Concrete Jungle,” “Five Weeks in a Balloon”
Aïssa Maïga – “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” “Mood Indigo”
Selton Mello – “My Hindu Friend,” “Trash”
Olga Merediz – “In the Heights,” “Adrift”
Sandra Kwan Yue Ng – “Echoes of the Rainbow,” “Portland Street Blues”
Hidetoshi Nishijima – “Drive My Car,” “Cut”
Rena Owen – “The Last Witch Hunter,” “The Dead Lands”
Jesse Plemons – “The Power of the Dog,” “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Sheryl Lee Ralph – “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” “The Distinguished Gentleman”
Renate Reinsve – “The Worst Person in the World,” “Welcome to Norway”
Marco Rodriguez – “El Chicano,” “Unspeakable”
Joanna Scanlan – “After Love,” “Notes on a Scandal”
Kodi Smit-McPhee – “The Power of the Dog,” “Let Me In”
Suriya – “Jai Bhim,” “Soorarai Pottru”
Anya Taylor-Joy – “The Northman,” “Last Night in Soho”

Casting Directors
Rich Delia – “King Richard,” “The Disaster Artist”
Elodie Demey – “Happening,” “Summer of 85”
Yngvill Kolset Haga – “The Worst Person in the World,” “One Night in Oslo”
Louise Kiely – “The Green Knight,” “Sing Street”
Meagan Lewis – “Blast Beat,” “Free State of Jones”
Karen Lindsay-Stewart – “Marie Antoinette,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”
Juliette Ménager – “A Bag of Marbles,” “As Above/So Below”
Kate Ringsell – “The Lost City of Z,” “Justice League”
Toby Whale – “Dunkirk,” “The History Boys”

Cinematographers
Ava Berkofsky – “The Sky Is Everywhere,” “Free in Deed”
Josh Bleibtreu – “Dark Phoenix,” “Shazam!”
Alice Brooks – “In the Heights,” “tick, tick…BOOM!”
Daria D’Antonio – “The Hand of God,” “Ricordi?”
Mike Eley – “The Duke,” “Woman Walks Ahead”
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen – “The Innocents,” “Another Round”
Ruben Impens – “Titane,” “Beautiful Boy”
Shabier Kirchner – “Small Axe,” “Bull”
Martin Ruhe – “The Tender Bar,” “The Midnight Sky”
Kasper Tuxen – “The Worst Person in the World,” “Riders of Justice”

Costume Designers
Joan Bergin – “The Prestige,” “In the Name of the Father”
Antonella Cannarozzi – “A Five Star Life,” “I Am Love”
Andrea Flesch – “Midsommar,” “Colette”
Lizzy Gardiner – “Hacksaw Ridge,” “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”
Dorothée Guiraud – “Murder Party,” “French Tech”
Suzie Harman – “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” “Extinction”
Tatiana Hernández – “The Japon,” “Lope”
Louise Stjernsward – “Made in Italy,” “The Mercy”
Elisabeth Tavernier – “The Man in the Basement,” “Tanguy Is Back”
Paul Tazewell – “West Side Story,” “Harriet”
Mitchell Travers – “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “Hustlers”

Directors
Newton Aduaka – “One Man’s Show,” “Ezra”
Andrew Ahn – “Fire Island,” “Spa Night”
Bruno Villela Barreto – “Four Days in September,” “The Kiss”
Mariano Barroso – “Ants in the Mouth,” “Ecstasy”
Rolf de Heer – “Charlie’s Country,” “Bad Boy Bubby”
Jeferson Rodrigues de Rezende – “The Malê Revolt,” “Bróder!”
Pawo Choyning Dorji* – “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”
Blessing Egbe – “African Messiah,” “Iquo’s Journal”
Briar Grace-Smith – “Cousins ,” “Waru”
Reinaldo Marcus Green – “King Richard,” “Monsters and Men”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi* – “Drive My Car,” “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy”
Sian Harries Heder* – “CODA,” “Tallulah”
Gil Kenan – “City of Ember,” “Monster House”
Amanda Kernell – “Charter,” “Sami Blood”
Mary Lambert – “The In Crowd,” “Pet Sematary II”
Blackhorse Lowe – “Chasing the Light,” “5th World”
Nalin Pan – “Last Film Show,” “Samsara”
Jonas Poher Rasmussen* – “Flee,” “Searching for Bill”
Isabel Sandoval – “Lingua Franca,” “Apparition”
Amy Seimetz – “She Dies Tomorrow,” “Sun Don’t Shine”
Rachel Talalay – “A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting,” “Tank Girl”

Documentary
Julie Anderson – “God Is the Bigger Elvis,” “Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World”
Susan Bedusa – “Procession,” “Bisbee ’17”
Opal H. Bennett – “A Broken House,” “Águilas”
Shane Boris – “Stray,” “The Edge of Democracy”
Joe Cephus Brewster – “American Promise,” “Slaying Goliath”
Ellen Bruno – “Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy,” “Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia”
Traci A. Curry – “Attica,” “Boss: The Black Experience in Business”
Jason DaSilva – “When We Walk,” “When I Walk”
Emílio Domingos – “Favela Is Fashion,” “L.A.P.A.”
Sushmit Ghosh – “Writing with Fire,” “Timbaktu”
Lyn Goldfarb – “Eddy’s World,” “With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women’s Emergency Brigade”
Susanne Guggenberger – “Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes,” “The Beekeeper and His Son”
Cristina Ibarra – “The Infiltrators,” “Las Marthas”
Oren Jacoby – “On Broadway,” “Sister Rose’s Passion”
Isaac Julien – “Derek,” “Frantz Fanon: Black Skin White Mask”
Deborah Kaufman – “Company Town,” “Blacks and Jews”
Firouzeh Khosrovani – “Radiograph of a Family,” “Fest of Duty”
Jessica Kingdon – “Ascension,” “Commodity City”
Mehret Mandefro – “How It Feels to Be Free ,” “Little White Lie”
Mary Manhardt – “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” “Racing Dreams”
Amanda McBaine – “Boys State,” “The Overnighters”
Peter Jay Miller – “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1,” “Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport”
Elizabeth Mirzaei – “Three Songs for Benazir,” “Laila at the Bridge”
Gulistan Mirzaei – “Three Songs for Benazir,” “Laila at the Bridge”
Bob Moore – “Dope Is Death,” “China Heavyweight”
Omar Mullick – “Footprint,” “These Birds Walk”
Mohammed Ali Naqvi – “Insha’Allah Democracy,” “Among the Believers”
Sierra Pettengill – “Riotsville, USA,” “The Reagan Show”
Ben Proudfoot – “The Queen of Basketball,” “A Concerto Is a Conversation”
Jonas Poher Rasmussen* – “Flee,” “Searching for Bill”
Gabriel Rhodes – “The First Wave,” “Time”
Lynne Sachs – “Film about a Father Who,” “Investigation of a Flame”
Brett Story – “The Hottest August,” “The Prison in Twelve Landscapes”
Thorsten Thielow – “The First Wave,” “Mayor Pete”
Rintu Thomas – “Writing with Fire,” “Dilli”
Nathan Truesdell – “Ascension,” “Balloonfest”
Jenni Wolfson – “Pray Away,” “One Child Nation”
Jialing Zhang – “In the Same Breath,” “One Child Nation”

Executives
Steve Asbell
Carole Baraton
Steven Bardwil
Jeff Blackburn
Liesl Copland
Kareem Daniel
Eva Diederix
Scott Foundas
Brenda Gilbert
Joshua Barnett Grode
Gene Yoonbum Kang
Jenny Marchick
Ori Joseph Marmur
Anna Marsh
Katherine Oliver
Joel Pearlman
Elizabeth Polk
Louie Provost
Amber Rasberry
Brian Robbins
Marc Schaberg
Ron Schwartz
Aditya Sood
Frederick Tsui
Dana Walden
Clifford Werber

Film Editors
Geraud Brisson – “CODA,” “Dark Hearts”
Olivier Bugge Coutté – “The Worst Person in the World,” “Thelma”
Shannon Baker Davis – “The Obituary of Tunde Johnson,” “The Photograph”
Billy Fox – “Dolemite Is My Name,” “Hustle & Flow”
Myron Kerstein – “tick, tick…BOOM!,” “Crazy Rich Asians”
Jeremy Milton – “Encanto,” “Zootopia”
Úna Ní Dhonghaíle – “Belfast,” “Stan & Ollie”
Heike Parplies – “Invisible Life,” “Toni Erdmann”
Joshua L. Pearson – “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” “What Happened, Miss Simone?”
Peter Sciberras – “The Power of the Dog,” “The King”
Aljernon Tunsil – “Attica,” “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution”
Azusa Yamazaki – “Drive My Car,” “Asako I & II”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Jacenda Burkett – “King Richard,” “Concussion”
Nana Fischer – “Encounter,” “The Lost City of Z”
Sean Flanigan – “The Many Saints of Newark,” “The Irishman”
Massimo Gattabrusi – “Loving Pablo,” “Volver”
Stephanie Ingram – “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “It”
Anna Carin Lock – “House of Gucci,” “Borg/McEnroe”
Heike Merker – “The Matrix Resurrections,” “Anonymous”
Stacey Morris – “Coming 2 America,” “Dolemite Is My Name”
Justin Raleigh – “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “Army of the Dead”
Kerrie Smith – “Motherless Brooklyn,” “John Wick”
Nadia Stacey – “Cruella,” “The Favourite”
Julia Vernon – “Cruella,” “Maleficent”
Wakana Yoshihara – “Belfast,” “Spencer”

Marketing and Public Relations
Dana Archer
Debra Birnbaum
Tatiana Detlofson
Bethan Anna Dixon
Britta Gampper
Jane Gibbs
Sheri Goldberg
Jonathan Helfgot
Jessica Kolstad
Cortney Lawson
Vivek Mathur
George Nicholis
Stephanie Sarah Northen
Jodie Magid Oriol
Gina Pence
Stephanie Dee Phillips
Chrissy Quesada
Stuart Robertson
Jerry Rojas
Evelyn Santana
Sohini Sengupta
Michelle Slavich
James Verdesoto
Katrina Wan
Glen Erin Wyatt

Music
Billie Eilish Baird O’Connell – “No Time to Die”
Amie Doherty – “Spirit Untamed,” “The High Note”
Lili Haydn – “Strip Down, Rise Up,” “Broken Kingdom”
Leo Heiblum – “Maria Full of Grace,” “Frida”
Natalie Holt – “Fever Dream,” “Journey’s End”
Nathan Johnson – “Nightmare Alley,” “Knives Out”
Jacobo Lieberman – “Maria Full of Grace,” “Frida”
Ariel Rose Marx – “Shiva Baby,” “Rebel Hearts”
Hesham Nazih – “The Guest,” “Born a King”
Finneas O’Connell – “No Time to Die”
Dan Romer – “Luca,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Nerida Tyson-Chew – “H Is for Happiness,” “Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid”

Producers
Mariela Besuievsky – “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” “The Secret in Their Eyes”
Cale Boyter – “Dune,” “Pacific Rim Uprising”
Chad Burris – “Collisions,” “Drunktown’s Finest”
Damon D’Oliveira – “The Grizzlies,” “Love Come Down”
Luc Déry – “Gabrielle,” “Monsieur Lazhar”
Michael Downey – “Elvis Walks Home,” “Light Thereafter”
Yaël Fogiel – “Memoir of War,” “Latest News of the Cosmos”
Cristina Gallego – “Birds of Passage,” “Embrace of the Serpent”
Laetitia Gonzales – “Plot 35,” “Tournée”
Pauline Gygax – “With the Wind,” “My Life as a Zucchini”
Margot Hand – “Passing,” “Brittany Runs a Marathon”
Jojo Hui – “Better Days,” “Dearest”
Eva Jakobsen – “Miss Viborg,” “Godless”
Lucas Joaquin – “Mayday,” “Love Is Strange”
Lizette Jonjic – “12 Dares,” “Guerrilla”
Thanassis Karathanos – “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” “Tulpan”
Kim McCraw – “Drunken Birds,” “Incendies”
Sev Ohanian – “Run,” “Searching”
Christina Piovesan – “The Nest,” “Amreeka”
Natalie Qasabian – “Run,” “All about Nina”
Philippe Rousselet – “CODA,” “Source Code”
Sara Silveira – “Good Manners,” “Vazante”
James Stark – “Prayers for the Stolen,” “Mystery Train”
Riccardo Tozzi – “La Nostra Vita,” “Don’t Move”
Shih-Ching Tsou – “Red Rocket,” “The Florida Project”
Nadia Turincev – “The Insult,” The Boss’s Daughter”
Tim White – “King Richard,” “Ingrid Goes West”
Trevor White – “King Richard,” “LBJ”
Teruhisa Yamamoto – “Drive My Car,” “Wife of a Spy”
Olena Yershova – “Brighton 4th,” “Volcano”

Production Design
François Audouy – “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Ford v Ferrari”
Laura Ballinger Gardner – “The Irishman,” “Joker”
Chris Baugh – “Steve Jobs,” “Argo”
Ellen Brill – “Being the Ricardos,” “Bombshell”
Joanna Bush – “La La Land,” “Life of Pi”
Christina Cecili – “Cyrano,” “A Quiet Place”
John Coven – “The Lion King,” “Logan”
Carol Flaisher – “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Miss Sloane”
Sandy Hamilton – “tick, tick…BOOM!,” “Joker”
Ellen Lampl – “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Jurassic World”
Enrico Latella – “Tenet,” “All the Money in the World”
Steven Lawrence – “Death on the Nile,” “Cinderella”
Melissa Levander – “The Tender Bar,” “The High Note”
Drew Petrotta – “The Suicide Squad,” “Captain Marvel”
Jean-Vincent Puzos – “Jungle Cruise,” “Amour”
Maya Shimoguchi – “Ford v Ferrari,” “Men in Black 3”

Short Films and Feature Animation
Murad Abu Eisheh – “Tala’vision,” “Ta Hariri”
Olivier Adam – “Sing 2,” “Minions”
Michael Arias – “Harmony,” “Tekkonkinkreet”
Evren Boisjoli – “Fauve,” “What Remains”
Maria Brendle – “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run,” “The Stowaway”
Sean Buckelew – “Drone,” “Hopkins & Delaney LLP”
Olivier Calvert – “Bad Seeds,” “Animal Behaviour”
Enrico Casarosa – “Luca,” “La Luna”
Karla Castañeda – “La Noria (The Waterwheel),” “Jacinta”
Hugo Covarrubias – “Bestia,” “The Night Upside Down”
K.D. Dávila – “Please Hold,” “Emergency”
Charlotte De La Gournerie – “Flee,” “Terra Incognita”
Luc Desmarchelier – “The Bad Guys,” “Open Season”
Anton Dyakov – “Boxballet,” “Vivat Musketeers!”
Brian Falconer – “Saul & I,” “Boogaloo and Graham”
Youssef Joe Haidar – “Scoob!,” “Animated American”
Andy Harkness – “Vivo,” “Get a Horse!”
Pierre Hébert – “Thunder River,” “Memories of War”
Aneil Karia – “The Long Goodbye,” “Work”
Brooke Keesling – “Meatclown,” “Boobie Girl”
Nadine Lüchinger – “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run,” “Puppenspiel (Puppet Play)”
Tadeusz Łysiak – “The Dress,” “Techno”
Joe Mateo – “Blush,” “Big Hero 6”
Sharon Maymon – “Skin,” “Summer Vacation”
Kathleen McInnis – “Mama,” “Downturn”
Yvett Merino – “Encanto,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Alberto Mielgo – “The Windshield Wiper,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
Les Mills – “Affairs of the Art,” “The Canterbury Tales”
Jetzabel Moreno Hernández – “The Followers,” “Plums and Green Smoke”
Dan Ojari – “Robin Robin,” “Slow Derek”
Brian Pimental – “Tarzan,” “A Goofy Movie”
Mikey Please – “Robin Robin,” “The Eagleman Stag”
Erin Ramos – “Encanto,” “Frozen II”
Mike Rianda – “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
Doug Roland – “Feeling Through,” “A Better Way”
Leo Sanchez – “The Windshield Wiper,” “Over the Moon”
Marc J. Scott – “The Boss Baby: Family Business,” “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
Sarah Smith – “Ron’s Gone Wrong,” “Arthur Christmas”
Daniel Šuljić – “From Under Which Rock Did They Crawl Out,” “The Cake”
Conrad Vernon – “The Addams Family,” “Shrek 2”
Pamela Ziegenhagen-Shefland – “Abominable,” “The Emperor’s New Groove”

Sound
Douglas Axtell – “True Grit,” “I Am Sam”
Nerio Barberis – “Violeta al Fin,” “Find a Boyfriend for My Wife…Please!”
Amanda Beggs – “The Forever Purge,” “Finding ’Ohana”
Adrian Bell – “Mothering Sunday,” “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”
Joshua Berger – “King Richard,” “The Lost City of Z”
Paul (Salty) Brincat – “The Invisible Man,” “The Thin Red Line”
Tom Yong-Jae Burns – “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Blade Runner 2049”
Benjamin A. Burtt – “Dolittle,” “Black Panther”
Simon Chase – “Belfast,” “Artemis Fowl”
Brian Chumney – “West Side Story,” “The Croods: A New Age”
Richard Flynn – “The Power of the Dog,” “Slow West”
Albert Gasser – “Straight Outta Compton,” “Dances With Wolves”
Lewis Goldstein – “In the Heights,” “Hereditary”
Theo Green – “Dune,” “Blade Runner 2049”
James Harrison – “No Time to Die,” “Captain Phillips”
John Hayes – “The King’s Man,” “Tom and Jerry”
Ruth Hernandez – “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” “Brooklyn’s Finest”
Huang Zheng – “Better Days,” “Chongqing Hot Pot”
Thomas Huhn – “The Wife,” “White God”
David Husby – “Tomorrowland,” “Elf”
Allison Jackson – “Don’t Think Twice,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Paul Ledford – “One Night in Miami,” “Logan”
Leff Lefferts – “Vivo,” “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
Nancy MacLeod – “The Revenant,” “The Hunger Games”
Charles Maynes – “After Earth,” “Letters from Iwo Jima”
Alan Meyerson – “Dune,” “Inception”
Casey Stone – “Frozen,” “Tsotsi”
Edward Tise – “Into the Wild,” “Full Metal Jacket”
Jana Vance – “Cast Away,” “Saving Private Ryan”
Tara Webb – “The Power of the Dog,” “Mortal Kombat”
Waldir Xavier – “From Afar,” “Central Station”
Denise Yarde – “Belfast,” “Dumbo”

Visual Effects
Ivy Agregan – “India Sweets and Spices,” “Wakefield”
Geeta Basantani – “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Vivo”
Aharon Bourland – “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Venom”
Ivan Busquets – “Malignant,” “The Irishman”
Joe Ceballos – “Skyscraper,” “Thor: Ragnarok”
Richard Anthony Clegg – “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” “Blade Runner 2049”
Mark Curtis – “Sully,” “Spectre”
Markus Degen – “The King’s Man,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
Jack Edjourian – “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Tenet”
Eric Enderton – “Shark Tale,” “Jurassic Park”
Marcos Fajardo Orellana – “Thor,” “Monster House”
Joel Green – “No Time to Die,” “The Kid Who Would Be King”
Earl Hibbert – “The Fate of the Furious,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Hayley Hubbard – “The Old Guard,” “Dumbo”
Maia Kayser – “Rango,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”
Garrett Lam – “Limbo,” “Shock Wave 2”
Jake Maymudes – “Dune,” “Terminator: Dark Fate”
Catherine Ann Mullan – “Dumbo,” “Maleficent”
Charlie Noble – “No Time to Die,” “Wonder Woman 1984”
J. Alan Scott – “Finch,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park”
Tefft Smith – “Alice through the Looking Glass,” “Tomorrowland”
Alan Travis – “Black Widow,” “The Irishman”
Michael Van Eps – “Deepwater Horizon,” “Poseidon”
Sean Noel Walker – “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Black Widow”
Vernon Wilbert – “Stealth,” “I, Robot”
Eric Jay Wong – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Lucy”
Kevin Wooley – “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Jurassic World”
Wei Zheng – “Mank,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Writers
Zach Baylin – “King Richard”
Henry Bean – “The Believer,” “Deep Cover”
Pawo Choyning Dorji* – “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”
Michael Grais – “Cool World,” “Poltergeist”
Ted Griffin – “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Ravenous”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi* – “Drive My Car,” “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy”
Jeremy O Harris – “Zola”
Sian Harries

Members-at-Large
Keith Adams
Josiah Akinyele
Richard Berger
Andrew Birch
Andrew Cannava
George Drakoulias
Andrew Dunlap
Erin Dusseault
James Farrell
Valerie Flueger Veras
Andy Fowler
Glenn Kiser
Anne Lai
Susan Lazarus
Joe Machota
Leonard Maltin
Deborah McIntosh
Julia Michels
Daniel Rabinow
Ilda Santiago
Danie Streisand
Matt Sullivan
Anne Lajla Utsi
Matt Vioral
Michael Zink

Eiza González Among the Latinx Artists Invited to Join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences

Eiza González is joining the Academy

The 31-year-old Mexican actress and singer is among the new class of 395 artists and executives who’ve been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Eiza González

Gonzalez’s star has been on the rise in Hollywood since appearing in Baby Driver. She’s gone on to star in films like Welcome to Marwen, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Bloodshot, I Care A Lot, Godzilla vs. King Kong and Spirit Untamed.

Other Latino actors invited to join the Academy include Colombiana’s Jesse Borrego, Murder Mystery’s Luis Gerardo Méndez and Wasp Network’s Wagner Moura.

Zola helmer Janicza Bravo has been invited to join in the Directors category, while cinematographers Manuel Alberto Claro, Pablo Valdés and Nicolás Wong representing their field.

Other Latinos invited to join include costume designers Beatriz De Benedetto, Muriel Parra and Catherine Rodríguez, makeup artists and hairstylists Nacho Díaz and Pepe Quetglas.

Overall, there are 89 Oscar nominees, including 25 winners, among the new class. 46% are women, 39% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 53% coming from countries outside of the U.S. this time around.

The new additions will bring the number of eligible Oscar voters up to somewhere in the neighborhood of 9,750, although that is not an exact number as all 395 must now accept the invites, and there has been some attrition due to deaths from last year’s AMPAS-supplied number of 9,362 eligible voters.

The number of new invitees, an exercise done only once each year, has been dramatically cut by more than in half from last year’s class of 819, a number in line with the expansion of AMPAS membership put in place over the past five years in order to bring in more diversity and increase the numbers of women and underrepresented artists. The dramatic slowdown in admitting new members was done to enable steady future growth and to ensure the necessary infrastructure, staff resources and environment to support all Academy members,” according to the AMPAS release.

Membership selection decisions are based on professional qualifications, with representation, inclusion and equity remaining a priority of Academy Aperture 2025.

The 2021 invitees are:

Actors:
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Us”
Maria Bakalova – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “XIIa”
Vidya Balan – “Tumhari Sulu,” “Kahaani”
Nicole Beharie – “Miss Juneteenth,” “42”
Kingsley Ben-Adir – “One Night in Miami…,” “Noelle”
Hugh Bonneville – “Downton Abbey,” “Paddington 2”
Jesse Borrego – “Colombiana,” “Con Air”
Carrie Coon – “The Nest,” “Gone Girl”
Laverne Cox – “Promising Young Woman,” “Bad Hair”
Andra Day – “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” “Cars 3”
Clea DuVall – “Argo,” “Zodiac”
Henry Golding – “A Simple Favor,” “Crazy Rich Asians”
Eiza González – “I Care a Lot,” “Baby Driver”
Kimberly Norris Guerrero – “The Glorias,” “Hidalgo”
Nicholas Guest – “Big Hero 6,” “Rango”
Ye-ri Han – “Minari,” “Worst Woman”
Vanessa Kirby – “Pieces of a Woman,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”
Nathan Lane – “The Producers,” “The Birdcage”
Jonathan Majors – “Da 5 Bloods,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”
Luis Gerardo Méndez – “Charlie’s Angels,” “Murder Mystery”
Wagner Moura – “Sergio,” “Wasp Network”
Ramsey Nouah – “’76,” “The Figurine”
Leslie Odom, Jr.* – “One Night in Miami…,” “Harriet”
Robert Pattinson – “Tenet,” “The Lighthouse”
Clarke Peters – “Da 5 Bloods,” “Harriet”
Paul Raci – “Sound of Metal,” “No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie”
Issa Rae – “The Lovebirds,” “The Photograph”
Stephen Root – “Get Out,” “Office Space”
Jurnee Smollett – “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” “The Great Debaters”
Isiah Whitlock, Jr. – “Da 5 Bloods,” “BlacKkKlansman”
Steven Yeun – “Minari,” “Burning”
Yuh-Jung Youn – “Minari,” “The Housemaid”

Casting Directors:
Domnica Circiumaru – “God’s Own Country,” “Charlie Countryman”
Sarah Crowe – “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” “The Death of Stalin”
Leah Daniels Butler – “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
Kim Davis-Wagner – “Her,” “Being John Malkovich”
Kei Kawamura – “Legend of the Demon Cat,” “Silence”
Jessica Kelly – “Midsommar,” “Hereditary”
Esther Kling – “Asia,” “Aladdin”
Liz Mullane – “The Lovely Bones,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
Susan Shopmaker – “Sound of Metal,” “First Reformed”
Patrícia Vasconcelos – “Mysteries of Lisbon,” “Absurdistan”

Cinematographers:
Manuel Alberto Claro – “Hope,” “Melancholia”
Christine A. Maier – “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” “Life Guidance”
Tobie Marier-Robitaille – “Night of the Kings,” “Nitro Rush”
Erik Messerschmidt – “Mank”
Andrey Naydenov – “Dear Comrades!,” “Euphoria”
Marcell Rév – “Malcolm & Marie,” “White God”
Piotr Sobocinski, Jr. – “Corpus Christi,” “I Never Cry”
Martin Strba – “Charlatan,” “Sekal Has to Die”
Pablo Valdés – “The Mole Agent,” “Los Reyes”
Nicolás Wong – “La Llorona,” “Muñecas Rusas”
Jing-Pin Yu – “Leap,” “Better Days”

Costume Designers:
Lea Carlson – “The Broken Hearts Gallery,” “Room”
Shirley Chan Ku Fang – “Kung Fu Hustle,” “A Chinese Ghost Story”
Beatriz De Benedetto – “The Two Popes,” “The Motorcycle Diaries”
Cindy Evans – “The Way Back,” “Atomic Blonde”
Charlese Antoinette Jones – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Ride”
Muriel Parra – “A Fantastic Woman,” “Neruda”
Kari Perkins – “Boyhood,” “Mud”
Christopher Peterson – “The Irishman,” “Dark Waters”
Marci Rodgers – “Lost Girls,” “BlackKkKlansman”
Catherine Rodríguez – “Birds of Passage,” “Embrace of the Serpent”
Margot Wilson – “The Nightingale,” “The Dressmaker”
Kenneth Chung-Man Yee – “The Wasted Times,” “Curse of the Golden Flower”

Directors:
Muhammad Al Darraji – “The Journey,” “Sons of Babylon”
Michael Almereyda – “Tesla,” “Marjorie Prime”
Kaouther Ben Hania* – “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” “Beauty and the Dogs”
Wayne Blair – “Top End Wedding,” “The Sapphires”
Lizzie Borden – “Working Girls,” “Born in Flames”
Janicza Bravo – “Zola,” “Lemon”
Craig Brewer* – “Black Snake Moan,” “Hustle & Flow”
Lee Isaac Chung* – “Minari,” “Munyurangabo”
Cherien Dabis – “May in the Summer,” “Amreeka”
Nia DaCosta – “Candyman,” “Little Woods”
Andrew Dosunmu – “Mother of George,” “Restless City”
Sean Durkin – “The Nest,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Emerald Fennell* – “Promising Young Woman”
Johnathan Glazer – “Under the Skin,” “Sexy Beast”
Nicole Tristan Kassell – “A Little Bit of Heaven,” “The Woodsman”
Shaka King* – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Newlyweeds”
Darius Marder – “Sound of Metal,” “Loot”
Nina Menkes – “Phantom Love,” “Queen of Diamonds”
Alexander Nanau* – “Collective,” “Toto and His Sisters”
Derek Kwok-cheung Tsang – “Better Days,” “Soulmate”
George C. Wolfe – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Lackawanna Blues”
Cathy Yan – “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” “Dead Pigs”
Florian Zeller* – “The Father”

Documentary:
Karen Akerman – “The Trial,” “Simonal – Nobody Knows the Hard I Had”
Raney Aronson-Rath – “For Sama,” “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail”
João Atala – “The Edge of Democracy,” “The Daily Death”
Philippe Bellaiche – “Advocate,” “The Settlers”
Julie Cohen – “My Name Is Pauli Murray,” “RBG”
Charlotte Cook – “Do Not Split,” “The Gospel of Eureka”
Heino Deckert – “Aquarela,” “Human Flow”
Alice Elliott – “Miracle on 42nd Street,” “The Collector of Bedford Street”
Rodney Evans – “Vision Portraits,” “The Unveiling”
Kristin Feeley
Bryan Fogel – “The Dissident, “Icarus”
Nick Fraser – “The Lovers and the Despot,” “Man on Wire”
Jacqueline Glover – “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality,” “Jim: The James Foley Story”
T. Griffin – “Boys State,” “Life, Animated”
Maya Daisy Hawke – “Janis: Little Girl Blue,” “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”
Wolfgang Held – “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” “Children Underground”
Kathy K. Im
Judy Karp – “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “Citizenfour”
Lesli Klainberg – “Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema,” “In the Company of Women”
Susan Margolin – “A Crime on the Bayou,” “The Rape of Recy Taylor”
Ousmane William Mbaye – “Président Dia,” “Mère-Bi (Mother)”
Lucila Moctezuma – “Living Los Sures,” “The New Americans”
Bill Morrison – “Dawson City: Frozen Time,” “The Great Flood”
Alexander Nanau* – “Collective,” “Toto and His Sisters”
Xan Parker – “Rebuilding Paradise,” “Tigerland”
Kellen Quinn – “Time,” “Midnight Family”
Brenda Robinson – “The Great American Lie,” “United Skates”
Kim A. Snyder – “Us Kids,” “Newtown”
Kathryn Townsend – “Cold Case Hammarskjöld,” “Shirkers”
Angela Tucker – “Belly of the Beast,” “(A)Sexual”
Betsy West – “My Name Is Pauli Murray,” “RBG”
Justin Wilkes – “Rebuilding Paradise,” “What Happened, Miss Simone?”
Peter Yam – “Lost Course,” “Yellowing”

Executives:
Byron Allen
Ashley Brucks
Darlene Caamaño Loquet
Bob Chapek
Matt Dentler
Amy Dunning
David Ellison
Jamie Erlicht
Taylor Friedman
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein
Katie Goodson-Thomas
Ryan Jones
Tilane Jones
Wendy Lidell
Naketha Mattocks
Lorenza Muñoz
Nicholas Nesbitt
Peter Oillataguerre
Pilar Savone
Christopher Shaw
Scott Strauss
Tristen Tuckfield
Zack Van Amburg
Kiyoshi Watanabe
Jiafeng Janet Wu
Negeen Yazdi

Film Editors:
Debbie Berman – “Love and Monsters,” “Black Panther”
Dana Bunescu – “Collective,” “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”
Matthew Friedman – “Palm Springs,” “The Farewell”
Jamie Gross – “Booksmart,” “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”
Catherine Haight – “Troop Zero,” “Afternoon Delight”
Gesa Jäger – “Tiger Girl,” “Love Steaks”
Brian A. Kates – “We the Animals,” “The Savages”
Justin Krish – “Blinded by the Light,” “Bend It Like Beckham”
Yorgos Lamprinos – “The Father,” “Xenia”
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – “Sound of Metal,” “A Royal Affair”
Kristan Sprague – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Newlyweeds”
Frédéric Thoraval – “Promising Young Woman,” “Sinister”
Harry Yoon – “Minari,” “Detroit”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists:
Nacho Díaz – “The Endless Trench,” “While at War”
Carla Joi Farmer – “Coming 2 America,” “Dolemite Is My Name”
Morten Jacobsen – “Into the Darkness,” “The Square”
Eryn Krueger Mekash – “Hillbilly Elegy,” “The Prom”
Kristyan Mallett – “Artemis Fowl,” “The Theory of Everything”
Adrien Morot – “The Glorias,” “Barney’s Version”
Mia Neal – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Uncut Gems”
Francesco Pegoretti – “Pinocchio,” “The Happy Prince”
Nadine Prigge – “The Dark Tower,” “Invictus”
Pepe Quetglas – “Musarañas ,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Kimberley Spiteri – “Mank,” “Palm Springs”
Megan Tanner – “A United Kingdom,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Anna Van Steen – “Bingo – The King of the Mornings,” “City of God”
Scott Wheeler – “One Night in Miami…,” “Star Trek: First Contact”
Louie Zakarian – “Vampires vs. the Bronx,” “Framing John DeLorean”

Marketing and Public Relations:
David Michael Bloch
Ginger Chan
Rita Cooper Lee
Megan Crawford
Mary T. Daily
Clare Anne Darragh
Josh DuBois
Venessa Fraguio
Johanna Fuentes

Michelle Anne Hagen
Carol McConnaughey
Billy Mikelson
Joanna Miles
Chad Miller
Christian Parkes
Sara Reich
Graham Retzik
Daniella Haile Robinson-Asfaw
Kevin Shelby
Angela Smith
Tamar Teifeld
Victoria Treole
Denny Tu
Christina Zisa

Music:
Jon Batiste – “Soul,” “Red Hook Summer”
Amanda Brown – “Babyteeth,” “Red Obsession”
Len Calvo – “Finding Agnes”
Dernst Emile II – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Photograph”
H.E.R. – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Photograph”
Janet Jackson – “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?,” “Poetic Justice”
Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum – “In Case of Emergency,” “Remember Me”
Aska Matsumiya – “I’m Your Woman,” “Selah and the Spades”
Emile Mosseri – “Minari,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”
Meshell Ndegeocello – “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” “love jones”
Leslie Odom, Jr.* – “One Night in Miami…”
Lolita Ritmanis – “Blizzard of Souls,” “Wild Daze”
Lisbeth Scott – “All My Life,” “The Passion of the Christ”
Adam Milo Smalley – “Missing Link,” “The Town”
Tiara Thomas – “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Pinar Toprak – “Captain Marvel,” “The Angel”
Amelia Warner – “Wild Mountain Thyme,” “Mary Shelley”

Producers:
Mo Abudu – “Òlòturé,” “The Royal Hibiscus Hotel”
Miranda Bailey – “Being Frank,” “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
Paula Barreto – “João, o Maestro,” “Reaching for the Moon”
Rosemary Blight – “Top End Wedding,” “The Sapphires”
Caroline Bonmarchand – “Spring Blossom,” “Head above Water”
Philippe Carcassonne – “The Father,” “Ridicule”
Darren Dale – “Deep Water – The Real Story,” “The Tall Man”
Kylie du Fresne – “The Invisible Man,” “Upgrade”
Fernando Epstein – “Monos,” “Whisky”
Ainsley Gardiner – “Boy,” “Two Cars, One Night”
Fabiano Gullane – “The Traitor,” “Querô: A Damned Report”
Dan Janvey – “Nomadland,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Ekta Kapoor – “Dream Girl,” “Once upon a Time in Mumbai”
Shobha Kapoor – “Udta Punjab,” “The Dirty Picture”
Emilie Lesclaux – “Bacurau,” “Aquarius”
Jean-Louis Livi – “The Father,” “Wild Grass”
Nadine Marsh-Edwards – “Been So Long,” “Bhaji on the Beach”
Amanda Marshall – “Don’t Think Twice,” “Swiss Army Man”
Paula Mazur – “Let Him Go,” “Corrina, Corrina”
Muriel Merlin – “The Truth,” “Slack Bay”
Ben Odell – “Overboard,” “How to Be a Latin Lover”
Christina Oh – “Minari ,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”
Inna Payán – “The Golden Dream,” “Lucia Lucia”
Tim Perell – “Wolves,” “Shortbus”
Katrin Pors – “Wildland,” “Birds of Passage”
Andrea Barata Ribeiro – “Xingu,” “City of God”
Alex Saks – “The Glorias,” “The Florida Project”
Shrihari Sathe – “The Sweet Requiem,” “It Felt Like Love”
Peter Spears – “Nomadland,” “Call Me by Your Name”

Production Design:
Grant Armstrong – “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” “Les Misérables”
Matt Callahan – “The Descendants,” “Get Smart”
Tina Charad – “Once upon a Time…in Hollywood,” “La La Land”
Cathy Featherstone – “The Father,” “Supernova”
Peter Francis – “The Father,” “The Children Act”
Beat Frutiger – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Dolemite Is My Name”
Trish Gallaher Glenn – “Mank,” “Frost/Nixon”
Charles Harrington – “Knives Out,” “Detroit”
Alan J. Hook – “Black Panther,” “Syriana”
Elizabeth Keenan – “News of the World,” “Selma”
Sebastian Till Krawinkel – “A Hidden Life,” “Inglourious Basterds”
Alan E. Muraoka – “I Hate Kids,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Susan Ogu – “The Big Short,” “Party Monster”
Vicki Pui – “Black Panther,” “Pacific Rim”
Jean Rabasse – “Vatel,” “The City of Lost Children”
James Rothwell – “The Lion King,” “Free Birds”
Diana Stoughton – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Dogma”
Warren Alan Young – “Harriet,” “Twin Falls Idaho”

Short Films and Feature Animation:
Rita del Rosario Basulto – “Eclosión,” “Rain in the Eyes”
Ossama Bawardi – “The Present,” “Haneen”
Will Becher – “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon,” “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”
Jerry Beck – “Wicked City,” “Robot Carnival”
John Bryant – “The Wild Thornberrys Movie,” “Rugrats in Paris”
Réka Bucsi – “Solar Walk,” “Symphony No. 42”
Clara Chan – “Over the Moon,” “Storks”
Peilin Chou – “Over the Moon,” “Abominable”
Sharon Colman – “The Croods,” “Badgered”
Anca Damian – “Marona’s Fantastic Tale,” “Crulic – The Path to Beyond”
Philippe Denis – “Trolls,” “Megamind”
Travon Free – “Two Distant Strangers”
Andrew Gent – “Isle of Dogs,” “Frankenweenie”
Michael Govier – “If Anything Happens I Love You,” “Space for Rent”
Gísli Darri Halldórsson – “Yes-People,” “Kókó the Killer Whale”
SungHo Hong – “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Sky Blue”
Joey Horvitz – “Game,” “Friday Night”
Brenden Hubbard – “The Helping Hand,” “Cul-de-Sac”
Jeanette Jeanenne – “Departures,” “Trusts & Estates”
Sebastian Kapijimpanga – “Over the Moon,” “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”
Sara Koppel – “Embraces & the Touch of Skin,” “Seriously Deadly Silence”
Christophe Lautrette – “The Croods,” “Bee Movie”
Carolina Markowicz – “The Orphan (O Órfão),” “Tatuapé Mahal Tower”
Will McCormack – “If Anything Happens I Love You,” “Toy Story 4”
Adrien Mérigeau – “Genius Loci,” “Song of the Sea”
François Morisset – “Bonobo,” “Sin Cielo”
Dana Murray – “Soul,” “Lou”
Farah Nabulsi – “The Present,” “Nightmare of Gaza”
Erick Oh – “Opera,” “The Dam Keeper”
Gennie Rim – “Over the Moon,” “Dear Basketball”
Martin Desmond Roe – “Two Distant Strangers,” “Buzkashi Boys”
Madeline Sharafian – “Burrow,” “Onward”
Tomer Shushan – “White Eye,” “Inside Shells”
Lisa Stewart – “Turbo,” “Monsters vs Aliens”
Ross Stewart – “Wolfwalkers,” “The Secret of Kells”
Erez Tadmor – “Sirens,” “Dear God”
Charles Williams – “All These Creatures,” “Home”
Nate Wragg – “The Croods: A New Age,” “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie”
Carlos Zaragoza – “The Emoji Movie ,” “Gnomeo & Juliet”

Sound:
Kristian Eidnes Andersen – “Into the Darkness,” “The Hunt”
Maurizio Argentieri – “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se),” “All the Money in the World”
Christopher S. Aud – “The Way Back,” “The Disaster Artist”
Jaime Baksht – “Sound of Metal,” “I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí)”
Christopher Barnett – “Come Away,” “Icarus”
Nicolas Becker – “Sound of Metal,” “The Summer of Sangaile (Sangailes Vasara)”
Phillip Bladh – “Sound of Metal,” “The Little Hours”
Onnalee Blank – “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Vince Caro – “Soul,” “Toy Story 4”
Carlos Cortés – “Sound of Metal,” “Our Time (Nuestro Tiempo)”
Marko Anthony Costanzo – “Greyhound,” “BlacKkKlansman”
Michellee Couttolenc – “Sound of Metal,” I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí)”
Valérie Deloof – “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “BPM (Beats Per Minute)”
Coya Elliott – “Soul,” “Toy Story 4”
Steve Fanagan – “Room,” “Albert Nobbs”
Dominic Carl Gibbs – “The Gentlemen,” “Aladdin”
Paul Hackner – “Trolls World Tour,” “Crawl”
Andy Hay – “One Night in Miami…,” “American Woman”
Mirosław Makowski – “Cold War,” “Ida”
Isabel Muñoz – “Miss Bala,” “Backyard (El Traspatio)”
Nathan Nance – “Mank,” “Toy Story 4”
Whit Norris – “Hillbilly Elegy,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”
Erin Oakley – “Charlie’s Angels,” “Zombieland: Double Tap”
Barry O’Sullivan – “Brooklyn,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”
David Paterson – “I, Tonya,” “Drive”
Bjørn Schroeder – “Roald Dahl’s The Witches,” “Kajillionaire”
Marlowe Taylor – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Marksman”
Juli Vandenberg – “Fiela se Kind,” “Otelo Burning”
Thomas “Tommy” Vicari – “Moonlight,” “Bridge of Spies”
David Wyman – “Greyhound,” “Deepwater Horizon”
Ken Yasumoto – “Climax,” “Love”

Visual Effects:
Lance Baetkey – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avengers: Infinity War”
Peta Bayley – “Dolittle,” “Shazam!”
Dennis Berardi – “Shazam!,” “The Shape of Water”
Daniele Bigi – “Aladdin,” “Ready Player One”
Axel Bonami – “Artemis Fowl,” “Godzilla”
Genevieve Camilleri – “Love and Monsters,” “Velvet Buzzsaw”
Raymond Chen – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “The Meg”
Yeenshi Chen – “Over the Moon,” “Life of Pi”
Santiago Colomo Martinez – “The One and Only Ivan,” “The Jungle Book”
Michael Joseph Conte – “Terminator Genisys,” “Elysium”
Michael Cozens – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Pete’s Dragon”
Ferran Domenech – “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “Alien: Covenant”
Benoit Dubuc – “Missing Link,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past”
Scott Edelstein – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avengers: Infinity War”
Matt Everitt – “Love and Monsters,” “Skyscraper”
Pawl Fulker – “Dolittle,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
John Haley – “Hellboy,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”
Sherry Lynn Hitch – “Mank,” “The Irishman”
Nick Hsieh – ‘Monster Hunt,” “Looper”
Chia-Chi Hu – “Soul,” “Incredibles 2”
Steve Ingram – “Mulan,” “Pete’s Dragon”
Ben Jones – “The One and Only Ivan,” “The Lion King”
Shannon Justison – “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” “Captain Marvel”
Matthew Kasmir – “The Midnight Sky,” “Paddington”
Michael Kennedy – “The Jungle Book,” “Prometheus”
Ryan Laney – “Welcome to Chechnya,” “Ant-Man”
David Lee – “Tenet,” “John Carter”
May Leung – “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Star Trek Beyond”
Viktor Muller – “Voyagers,” “Gemini Man”
Max Solomon – “The Midnight Sky,” “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”
Sheldon Stopsack – “Gemini Man,” “Terminator: Dark Fate”
Damien Stumpf – “Cruella,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
Stephen Unterfranz – “Shadow in the Cloud,” “Rampage”
David Watkins – “The Midnight Sky,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

Writers:
Kenya Barris – “Coming 2 America,” “Girls Trip”
Peter Baynham – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Kaouther Ben Hania* – “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” “Beauty and the Dogs”
Paul Mayeda Berges – “Blinded by the Light,” “Bend It Like Beckham”
Craig Brewer* – “Black Snake Moan,” “Hustle & Flow”
Lee Isaac Chung* – “Minari,” “Munyurangabo”
Will Collins – “Wolfwalkers,” “Song of the Sea”
Emerald Fennell* – “Promising Young Woman”
Anthony Hines – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Jon Hurwitz – “American Reunion,” “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”
Brad Ingelsby – “Our Friend,” “The Way Back”
Shaka King* – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Newlyweeds”
Lam Wing Sum – “Better Days,” “Soulmate”
Li Yuan – “Better Days,” “Soulmate”
Dan Mazer – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Tarell Alvin McCraney – “High Flying Bird,” “Moonlight”
Kemp Powers – “One Night in Miami…,” “Soul”
Hayden Schlossberg – “American Reunion,” “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”
Alice Wu – “The Half of It,” “Save Face”
Xu Yimeng – “Better Days,” “Soulmate”
Florian Zeller* – “The Father,” “Florida”

Members-at-Large:
Cameron Bailey
John Buzzetti
Jennifer Jo Caputo
Giovanna Fossati
Craig Gering
Kari Grubin
Eugene Hernandez
Chung Chi Li
Peter Mavromates
Ann Murphy
Loren Nielsen
Nikki Penny
Darin Read
Alice Taylor
Jeremy Zimmer

Jayro Bustamante’s “La Llorona” Makes Oscars Short List in International Feature Film Category

Jayro Bustamante is one step closer to having a date with Oscar…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has revealed its shortlist of International Feature Film potential nominees, with the Guatemalan film director and screenwriter’s supernatural horror drama La Llorona making the grade.

Jayro Bustamante

Bustamante’s third feature film, representing his native Guatemala in the race, is rooted in the more recent history of Guatemala’s ruthless military leaders and their efforts in erasing indigenous tribes.

La Llorona recently made history as the first Central American film to earn a Golden Globe nomination.

But Bustamante isn’t the only Latinx director to have a project make the shortlist…

Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent, representing Chile, is among the 15 shortlisted films…

The 37-year-old Chilean writer/director’s documentary centers on a private investigator in Chile hires someone to work as a mole at a retirement home where a client of his suspects the caretakers of elder abuse.

Fernando Frías de la Parra’s I’m No Longer Here, representing Mexico, still has an Oscar shot as well…

Written and directed by the 42-year-old Mexican filmmaker, the film has been called “a thoughtful portrait of cultural identity.” It centers on a teen from Monterrey, Mexico who forges a new life in Queens, New York.

The full Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15, and ABC will air the 93rd annual Academy Awards live on April 25.

Here are the shortlisted films:

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Quo Vadis, Aida?
Chile, The Mole Agent
Czech Republic, Charlatan
Denmark, Another Round
France, Two of Us
Guatemala, La Llorona
Hong Kong, Better Days
Iran, Sun Children
Ivory Coast, Night of the Kings
Mexico, I’m No Longer Here
Norway, Hope
Romania, Collective
Russia, Dear Comrades!
Taiwan, A Sun
Tunisia, The Man Who Sold His Skin

La Llorona

The Mole Agent

I’m No Longer Here


 

The Christina Aguilera-Performed “Mulan” Single, “Loyal Brave True” Makes Oscars Shortlist

Christina Aguilera is one step closer to having an Oscar moment…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has revealed its shortlist of Original Song potential nominees, with the 40-year-old half-Ecuadorian American actress’ single for the live action Mulan film still in the running.

Christina Aguilera

Loyal Brave True,” performed by Aguilera is one of the 15 tracks to make the shortlist, which will be whittled down to five.

Co-written by Billy CrabtreeHarry Gregson-WilliamsJamie Hartman and Rosi Golan, the song was released as a single on March 6, 2020 by Walt Disney Records.[

While Aguilera won’t win an Oscar should the song ultimately win, since she didn’t contribute either to music, lyrics, or both in her own right, she would perform the song during the ceremony and before this award is presented.

The full Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15, and ABC will air the 93rd annual Academy Awards live on April 25.

Here are the tracks making the shortlist this year:

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Turntables, from All In: The Fight for Democracy, Janelle Monae
See What You’ve Done, from Belly of the Beast, Mary J. Blige
Wuhan Flu, from Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Husavik, from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Never Break, from Giving Voice, John Legend
Make It Work, from Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Fight For You, from Judas and the Black Messiah
lo Sì (Seen), from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)
Rain Song, from Minari
Show Me Your Soul, from Mr. Soul!
Loyal Brave True, from Mulan, Christina Aguilera
Free, from The One and Only Ivan
Speak Now, from One Night in Miami
Green, from Sound of Metal
Hear My Voice, from The Trial of the Chicago 7

 

Yalitza Aparicio Among the Latino Professionals Invited to Join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS)

Yalitza Aparicio’s joining The Academy

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has released its annual list of invitations to join the organization, with the 26-year-old Mexican actress and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples among the 819 extended an invite.

Yalitza Aparicio

Aparicio, one of Time magazine’s100 most influential people in the world in 2019,earned an Oscar nod in the Best Actress category for her performance in Alfonso Cuarón‘s 2018 Spanish-language drama Roma. With the nomination for her actig debut, she became the first Indigenous American woman and the second Mexican woman to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

But Aparcio isn’t the only Latino/a to make the list…

Other invitees in the Actors branch include Bobby Cannavale, who appeared in The IrishmanOverboard’s Eva LongoriaKnives Out star Ana de Armas and Gringo actor Yul Vazquez.

Invitees in the Music branch include Andrea Guerra (Hotel Rwanda) and Cuban-American jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who worked on the music for Clint Eastwood’s films Richard Jewell and The Mule.

The Directors branch sent out invitations to Latino filmmakers Icíar Bolláin (Spanish), Felipe Cazals (Mexican), Sebastián Cordero (Ecuadorian), Luis Estrada (Mexican), Alejandro Landes (Colombian-Ecuadorian),Jorge Alí Triana (Colombian) and  Andrés Wood (Chilean).

This year’s new class demonstrates The Academy’s commitment to erasing the stigma of not being inclusive, particularly in terms of women, international members and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities.

The organization reports this year’s class breakdown is 49% international, 45% women, and 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial. 

The overwhelming number of those invited to join the Academy end up accepting. 

The total active membership in 2019 was 8,946, with 8,733 eligible to vote. Total membership including active, voting and retired was 9,794.  Today’s additions will take the membership count past the 10,000 mark.

AMPAS says members can voluntarily  disclose their race/ethnicity, sex or can choose “prefer not to.” So, demo stats may not be 100% accurate. AMPAS also “recognizes and respects” the personal choice in identification, but doesn’t track LGBTQ+ or differently abled, although a source says, while protecting privacy and not forcing answers, they are “working towards it.” In other words this is no longer your father’s Academy.

 “We take great pride in the strides we have made in exceeding our initial inclusion goals set back in 2016, but acknowledge the road ahead is a long one,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “We are committed to staying the course.”

“The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travelers in the motion picture arts and sciences.  We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now,” said Academy President David Rubin.

Here’s a look at some of this year’s Latino invitees:

Actors
Yalitza Aparicio – “Roma”
Bobby Cannavale – “The Irishman,” “The Station Agent”
Ana de Armas – “Knives Out,” “Blade Runner 2049”
Eva Longoria – “Overboard,” “Harsh Times”
Yul Vazquez – “Gringo,” “Last Flag Flying”

Casting Directors
Libia Batista – “Eres Tú Papá?,” “Viva”
Javier Braier – “The Two Popes,” “Wild Tales”
Eva Leira – “Pain and Glory,” “Biutiful”
Yesi Ramirez – “The Hate U Give,” “Moonlight”
Yolanda Serrano – “Pain and Glory,” “Biutiful”

Cinematographers
Óscar Faura – “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “The Imitation Game”

Directors
Icíar Bolláin – “Even the Rain,” “Take My Eyes”
Felipe Cazals – “El Año de la Peste,” “Canoa: A Shameful Memory”
Sebastián Cordero – “Europa Report,” “Crónicas”
Luis Estrada – “The Perfect Dictatorship,” “Herod’s Law”
Alejandro Landes – “Monos,” “Porfirio”
Jorge Alí Triana – “Bolívar Soy Yo,” “A Time to Die”
Andrés Wood – “Araña,” “Violeta Went to Heaven”

Documentary
Cristina Amaral – “Um Filme de Verão (A Summer Film),” “Person”
Violeta Ayala – “Cocaine Prison,” “The Bolivian Case”
Julia Bacha – “Naila and the Uprising,” “Budrus”
Almudena Carracedo – “The Silence of Others,” “Made in L.A.”
Paola Castillo – “Beyond My Grandfather Allende,” “Genoveva”
Paz Encina – “Memory Exercises,” “Paraguayan Hammock”
Mariana Oliva – “The Edge of Democracy,” “Piripkura”
Iván Osnovikoff – “Los Reyes,” “La Muerte de Pinochet (The Death of Pinochet)”
Tiago Pavan – “The Edge of Democracy,” “Olmo and the Seagull”
Bettina Perut – “Los Reyes,” “La Muerte de Pinochet (The Death of Pinochet)”
Marta Rodriguez – “Our Voice of Earth, Memory and Future,” “Campesinos (Peasants)”

Executives
Ozzie Areu
Barbara Peiro
Frank Rodriguez
Mimi Valdes

Film Editors
Alejandro Carrillo Penovi – “Heroic Losers,” “The Clan”
Alex Marquez – “Snowden,” “Savages”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Mari Paz Robles – “I Dream in Another Language,” “Cantinflas”
David Ruiz Gameros – “Tear This Heart Out,” “Amores Perros”
Susana Sánchez – “The Liberator,” “Goya’s Ghosts”

Marketing and Public Relations
Inma Carbajal-Fogel
Emmanuelle Castro
Fernando Garcia
Dustin M. Sandoval

Music
Andrea Guerra – “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Hotel Rwanda”
Arturo Sandoval – “Richard Jewell,” “The Mule”

Producers
Edher Campos – “Sonora, the Devil’s Highway,” “The Golden Dream”
Nicolas Celis – “Roma,” “Tempestad”
Alex Garcia – “Kong: Skull Island,” “Desierto”
Enrique López Lavigne – “The Impossible,” “Sex and Lucia”
Álvaro Longoria – “Everybody Knows,” “Finding Altamira”
Mónica Lozano – “I Dream in Another Language,” “Instructions Not Included”
Gabriela Maire – “Las Niñas Bien (The Good Girls),” “La Caridad (Charity)”
Luis Manso – “Champions,” “Binta and the Great 
Gabriela Rodríguez – “Roma,” “Gravity”
Mar Targarona – “Secuestro (Boy Missing),” “The Orphanage”
Luis Urbano – “Letters from War,” “Tabu”

Production Design
Sandra Cabriada – “Instructions Not Included,” “The Mexican”
Estefanía Larraín – “A Fantastic Woman,” “Neruda”

Short Films and Feature Animation
José David Figueroa García – “Perfidia,” “Ratitas”
Oscar Grillo – “Monsters, Inc.,” “Monsieur Pett”
Otto Guerra – “City of Pirates,” “Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock’n’Roll”
Isabel Herguera – “Winter Love,” “Under the Pillow”
Summer Joy Main-Muñoz – “Don’t Say No,” “La Cerca”
Juan Pablo Zaramella – “Luminaris,” “The Glove”

Sound
David Esparza – “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Equalizer”

Visual Effects
Leandro Estebecorena – “The Irishman,” “Kong: Skull Island”

Members-at-Large
Daniel Molina
Carlos Morales
Jesse Torres

Apollonia Appears as Surprise Guest at AMPAS’ “Purple Rain: Celebration”

Apollonia has come out of mouring…

The 57-year-old Mexican American actress, singer, former model and talent manager made her first public appearance since the passing of Prince on Monday night at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Apollonia

The occasion? Purple Rain: Celebration, a panel discussion/screening presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The evening’s surprise guest was joined by fellow cast members Jerome Benton and Jill Jones as well as the film’s writer/director Albert Magnoli, producer Robert Cavallo and costume designer Marie France.

Clips from the 57th Academy Awards — when Prince won the Oscar for original song score for Purple Rain — opened the evening.

Then noting that “not just a memory was being celebrated but also a milestone,” AMPAS president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced that the brand new 35mm optical stereo print being shown would be added to the Academy’s permanent collection. Also setting the tone: an array of brilliant portraits of Prince displayed in the outer lobby, taken over the years by his personal photographer Afshin Shahidi.

Writer/director Reginald Hudlin, who produced the 88th Academy Awards this year, and Grammy-winning composer/bass guitarist Marcus Miller, moderated the ensuing 90-minute conversation.

Swapping stories about everything from the film’s early beginnings to the 90 still unreleased songs out of the 100 Prince had for the soundtrack to the absurd suggestion that John Travolta portray Prince, the panelists drew plenty of ooh’s and raucous laughter:

“I was the last person they saw for the audition [to find the Vanity replacement]. [Actress] Nia Peeples had just walked out of the room. I walked in and they asked me to take my shoes off. I thought wow, they’re into feet. Later I learned they were flying me to Minneapolis to meet Prince, who takes me out for a ride in a purple limo. He was very reserved and shy. I’m like Chatty Cathy. The next day we do an audition at First Avenue. I wore black spandex and a metal mesh blouse. Later there’s a knock at my hotel door and it’s Chick [Charles ‘Big Chick’ Huntsberry] from his security team: “The kid likes you. Play it cool,” said Apollonia.

“Prince called me and sang several pieces of [‘When Doves Cry’] into my answering machine and said not to erase it. When he came to my apartment, he headed straight to my machine. I still have that tape,” she added.