Academy bows to pressure with Oscars overhaul

The Film Academy is pledging to double the number of female and minority members by 2020, and will immediately diversify its leadership by adding three new seats to its board of governors.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the changes last night, following a week-long storm of criticism and calls for an Oscar boycott after Academy members nominated an allwhite list of actors for the second year in a row.

Ms Isaacs said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 51-member board of governors unanimously approved a series of reforms to “begin the process of significantly changing our membership composition”.