Strange Bedfellows: David Zaslav And Taylor Swift Invited To Join The Academy

TV & Film

Jun 30

Superstar Taylor Swift and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav are among the 398 artists and executives receiving invites to become members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Of those who received invites in 2023, 52% come from outside the United States. 40% of all 2023 invitees are women, with 34% of those with invitations belonging to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities. Should all 398 invitees accept to be members, the total of Academy members will rise to 10,817. The number of those eligible to vote in the 96th Oscars, taking place on March 10, 2024, sits at 9,375.

Some recent Oscar nominees and winners are among those with invites, with Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), and Paul Mescal (Aftersun). The invitees represent more than those recognised by the Oscars, with director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick), screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro (Living), and executives such as Senior Vice President and Global Publicity of Sony Pictures’ Antonio Gimenez-Palazon and Chief Content Officer of Netflix Bela Bajaria.

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In a statement, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said, “The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide.”

Taylor Swift has been surprising fans recently, with her short film All Too Well appearing at the Toronto Film Festival, where it was announced she would make her feature-length directorial debut with Searchlight Pictures. David Zaslav has been making a lot of decisions since becoming CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, ensuring that the company has a lot of great content coming in the future, which includes a 10-year plan for DC Studios.