81 Animation Professionals to Join The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences extended its invitations to join the organization to 819 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. According to its official statistics, he 2020 class is 45% women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 49% international from 68 countries.

In animation, the indie animation sector features Daria Kashcheeva, Oscar-nominated for the stop-motion Daughter. Michlelle & Uri Kranot  (Nothing Happens, Hollow Land) have been invited, as well as UK animation artist Lizzy Hobbs (I'm OK).

The Oscar-nominated French director Jérémy Clapin (I Lost My Body) and the film's French producer Marc du Pontavice (Xilam) are among the invitees. (Clapin has an additional invitation as a writer -he will need to choose which category to join). Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol directors should have been invited a long time ago, after the Oscar-nominated A Cat In Paris; here they are.

There are more French invitees in the names of Bruno Collet (Memorable) and Vivement Lundi! producer Jean-François Le Corre.

Niki Lindroth von Bahr (The Burden), Anita Killi (Angry Man) are the Scandinavian independent animation entries.

Argentinian Juan Pablo Zaramella (Luminaris) and theveteran Brazilian Otto Guerra (City of Pirates) represent the South American continent. Spanish animation director Isabel Herguera is added to the list.

Chris Sullivan (Consuming Spirits) joins the list, along with another indie North American filmmaker Sheila Sofian (Survivors). Student Academy Award winner Ahmad Saleh (for Ayny) enters the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Ayny

Stéphan Roelants (Melusine Productions) and the artistic director of Annecy Festival Marcel Jean are also included in the 2020 class. Sayoko Kinoshita, director of Hiroshima International Animation Festival is another non-US new Academy member.

It is true that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has made some steps to counterbalance and include acclaimed indie animation professionals. The percentage of indie animation professionals in this list still remains quite small -in comparison to the US studio artists.

Any chances of an indie animation short film or feature actually winning an Academy Award will need a different course of action than a number of individuals joining the Academy - in a competition where all 9,921 current Academy Members have the right to vote.

The full list of animation artists and filmmakers joining the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences:

Short Films and Feature Animation

Frank E. Abney – “Incredibles 2,” “Coco”
Mounia Akl – “Submarine,” “Eva”
Dekel Berenson – “Anna,” “Ashmina”
Lorelay Bove – “Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Jamaal Bradley – “The Croods,” “Puss in Boots”
Colin Brady – “Everyone’s Hero,” “A Bug’s Life”
Gary Bruins – “Inside Out,” “Up”
Matthew A. Cherry – “Hair Love,” “Forward”
Sue-Ellen Chitunya – “Grandpa’s Hands,” “Team Marilyn”
Jérémy Clapin – “I Lost My Body,” “Palmipédarium”
Bruno Collet – “Memorable,” “Son Indochine”
Josh Cooley – “Toy Story 4,” “Inside Out”
Emanuela Cozzi – “ParaNorman,” “The Prince of Egypt”
BJ Crawford – “The Peanuts Movie,” “Ice Age: Continental Drift”
Philip Dale – “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Coraline”
Everett Downing – “Hair Love,” “WALL-E”
Marc du Pontavice – “I Lost My Body,” “Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie”
Robert Ducey – “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Coraline”
Sonya Dunn – “End of the World,” “The Bedroom”
Fabian Erlinghauser – “Song of the Sea,” “The Secret of Kells”
Jean-Loup Felicioli – “Phantom Boy,” “A Cat in Paris”
Giovanna Ferrari – “The Breadwinner,” “Song of the Sea”
José David Figueroa García – “Perfidia,” “Ratitas”
Michael Ford – “The Angry Birds Movie 2,” “Hotel Transylvania”
Alain Gagnol – “Phantom Boy,” “A Cat in Paris”
Maryann Garger – “Astro Boy,” “Flushed Away”
Axel Geddes – “Toy Story 4,” “Finding Dory”
Delphine Girard – “A Sister,” “Caverne”
Philippe Gluckman – “Rise of the Guardians,” “Antz”
Ian Gooding – “Moana,” “The Princess and the Frog”
Oscar Grillo – “Monsters, Inc.,” “Monsieur Pett”
Otto Guerra – “City of Pirates,” “Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock’n’Roll”
Patrick Hanenberger – “Smallfoot,” “Rise of the Guardians”
Aaron Hartline – “Up,” “Robots”
Deborah Haywood – “Twinkle, Twinkle,” “Sis”
Sabine Heller – “The Peanuts Movie,” “Rio”
Isabel Herguera – “Winter Love,” “Under the Pillow”
Lizzy Hobbs – “The Flounder,” “I’m OK”
Faren Humes – “Liberty,” “Our Rhineland”
Mino Jarjoura – “Saria,” “Asad”
Marcel Jean – “Sleeping Betty,” “La Pirouette”
Meryam Joobeur – “Brotherhood,” “Born in the Maelstrom”
Daria Kashcheeva – “Daughter,” “To Accept”
Paul Kewley – “Early Man,” “Shaun the Sheep Movie”
Anita Killi – “Angry Man,” “The Hedge of Thorns”
Sayoko Kinoshita – “A Little Journey,” “Pica Don”
Michelle Kranot – “Nothing Happens,” “Hollow Land”
Uri Kranot – “Nothing Happens,” “Hollow Land”
Ka'ramuu Kush – “Sundays at Noon,” “Salvation Road”
Jean-François Le Corre – “Memorable,” “This Magnificent Cake!”
Hyun-min Lee – “Moana,” “Big Hero 6”
Matt Lefebvre – “Saria,” “Asad”
Eric Leighton – “Coraline,” “The Nightmare before Christmas”
Niki Lindroth von Bahr – “Something to Remember,” “The Burden”
Andy London – “I’m in the Mood for Death,” “The Back Brace”
Summer Joy Main-Muñoz – “Don’t Say No,” “La Cerca”
Damien Megherbi – “Nefta Football Club,” “Wicked Girl”
Deanna Morse – “Recipe for Birds,” “Whispers of the Prairie”
Bob Moyer – “Toy Story 4,” “Up”
Mark Nielsen – “Toy Story 4,” “Inside Out”
Wanjiru M. Njendu – “Boxed,” “The Dinner Guest”
Justin Pechberty – “Nefta Football Club,” “Wicked Girl”
Amy Pfaffinger – “Moana,” “Frozen”
Yves Piat – “Nefta Football Club,” “Tempus Fugit”
Julia Pistor – “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,” “Rugrats in Paris: The Movie”
Charlotte Regan – “My Boy,” “Standby”
Milo Riccarand – “The Secret Life of Pets,” “Despicable Me”
Stéphan Roelants – “The Breadwinner,” “Song of the Sea”
Kirsikka Saari – “After the Reunion,” “Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?”
Ahmad Saleh – “Ayny,” “Maa Baa”
Dan Scanlon – “Onward,” “Monsters University”
Sheila Sofian – “Survivors,” “Secret Rage”
Jason Stalman – “Isle of Dogs,” “Kubo and the Two Strings”
Colin Stimpson – “The Secret Life of Pets,” “We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story”
Chris Sullivan – “Consuming Spirits,” “Ain’t Misbehavin!”
Amos Sussigan – “Swan Cake,” “Broken Wing”
Michael J. Travers – “The Peanuts Movie,” “Ice Age”
Saschka Unseld – “The Blue Umbrella,” “Toy Story 3”
Eric Wachtman – “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Coraline”
Fusako Yusaki – “The Rose of the Winds,” “Winter Days”
Juan Pablo Zaramella – “Luminaris,” “The Glove”

Here's the list of VFX artists

Visual Effects

David Alexander – “Cliffs of Freedom,” “The Laundromat”
Jon Franklin Alexander – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Noah” 
Vishal Anand – “Bharat,” “War”
Berj Bannayan – “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” “Geostorm”
John Bell – “Rango,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
Tami Carter – “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Lucy”
Ahdee Chiu – “The Wandering Earth,” “The Last Stand”
Ryan Michael Church – “Transformers: The Last Knight,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”
Todd Constantine – “Jumanji: The Next Level,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”
Ryan Cook – “The Call of the Wild,” “Rampage”
Karin Margarete Cooper – “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Kong: Skull Island”
Dan Cox – “The A-Team,” “Gulliver’s Travels”
Nick Marc Epstein – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”
Leandro Estebecorena – “The Irishman,” “Kong: Skull Island”
Luca Fascione – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Avengers: Endgame”
Greg Fisher – “The Jungle Book,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Aaron Gilman – “Alpha,” “Pacific Rim Uprising”
Stephane Grabli – “The Irishman,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
Darin Grant – “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” “Kung Fu Panda 2”
Jeremy Hays – “The Call of the Wild,” “Once upon a Time…in Hollywood”
Sandeep Kamal – “Panipat,” “Jal”
Sidney Olivier Kombo-Kintombo – “Avengers: Endgame,” “War for the Planet of the Apes”
Hoiyue Harry Lam – “Midway,” “The Wandering Earth”
Mårten Larsson – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Pixels”
Patrick Ledda – “Dumbo,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”
Gong Myung Lee – “Triple Frontier,” “Deadpool 2”
Richard Little – “1917,” “The Jungle Book”
Doug Moore – “12 Strong,” “Ant-Man”
Elliot Newman – “The Lion King,” “The Jungle Book”
Artemis Oikonomopoulou – “Annihilation,” “Thor: Ragnarok”
Mihaela Orzea – “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “The Huntsman: Winter’s War”
Mike Anthony Perry – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” 
Todd Sheridan Perry – “Black Panther,” “Doctor Strange”
Nick Rasmussen – “Ready Player One,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
Marco Revelant – “Gemini Man,” “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
Jason Schugardt – “Clown,” “In the Blood”
David Seager – “Aladdin,” “Terminator: Dark Fate”
Amy Shepard – “Playing with Fire,” “Doctor Strange”
Bill Spitzak – “Abominable,” “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
Olcun Tan – “Doctor Sleep,” “Thor: Ragnarok”
Dmitry Tokoyakov – “Beyond the Edge,” “Furious”
James Tooley – “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
Leandro Visconti – “Lion’s Heart,” “The Innocents”
Paige Warner – “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”
Matt Welford – “A Dog’s Way Home,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”
Victor Wong – “The Founding of an Army,” “Rise of the Legend”
Max Wood – “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” “Suicide Squad”
Ged Wright – “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “22 July”

The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is scheduled to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on April 25, 2021.