The Film Academy launches a campaign to recruit more women to the institution

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has launched a campaign to encourage more women to join the institution and thus increase the number of women in order to “continue moving towards an increasingly equal industry,” they said in a statement.

The institution currently has more than 2,400 academics, of which 32 percent are women, according to sources from the Academy who spoke to Europa Press.

“We want to encourage all the women who are not yet active members of this institution to become academics. We want to count on all of you. The wishes and aspirations of all the women who are dedicated to cinema are and should be very important in the lines of work of this institution,” said the president of the Film Academy, Fernando Méndez-Leite, and the vice president, Susi Sánchez.

Women who become members before 2025 will be exempt from paying membership fees for one year, starting from the moment they register. Professionals who wish to join the institution must be or have been involved in an artistic, technical, literary, journalistic, industrial or business activity related to the film sector, and must be endorsed by three members of the Board of Directors.

In addition, applicants who are closely related to the film industry, even if they are not directly involved in film production, may be admitted.

The requirements for admission to the Academy vary according to the profession. For example, actresses must have made at least one released feature film in which their status as a leading actress is credited, or be able to credit four feature films as a supporting actress, or have worked professionally in film acting for a period of ten years, having participated as an actor or actress.

In the direction category, candidates must have made at least one feature film, released in commercial theatres, with the credits recognising their status as director. In the production category, candidates must have made at least two feature films, released in commercial theatres, with the credits recognising their status as producer; or have made at least three feature films released in commercial theatres, with the credits recognising their status as executive producer.

In the case of production directors, candidates must have made a minimum of two feature-length fiction films, released in commercial theatres, in whose credits their status as production director is recognised if the position has not been shared and three feature-length fiction films, released in commercial theatres, in whose credits their status as production director is recognised if the position, in any of them, has been shared with another production director.