FOR THE ACADEMY’S CONSIDERATION

The motion picture academy has had trouble casting a wider net for new members. So we embarked on our own search and found highly qualified candidates.

The Academy has a diversity problem, so we decided to help by offering up a list of 100 people who we think could potentially solve it, in advance of the Academy’s announcement of its own list in the coming weeks. See our special report in

Despite a cast of thousands, Hollywood has been flummoxed over the years in finding enough diversity candidates for the academy. So the Los Angeles Times embarked on a search to help out. And we came up with the names of 100 people of diverse backgrounds — women, people of color and members of the LGBT community — with credentials that make them worthy of membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

We interviewed dozens of Hollywood insiders to come up with our list. We talked to whites and blacks, Latinos and Asians. We consulted actors, directors, cinematographers, costume designers and writers as well as film festival organizers and leaders of minority advocacy groups. We also tapped the deep expertise of our team of reporters and editors covering the movie business.

From that reporting, we narrowed a long list to 100 of the best and the brightest. By its nature, this list — like most others — is a bit subjective, more art than science. But the people who made the cut did so based on the strength of their résumés, their festival and awards performance, and the enthusiastic testimony of their peers.

All of the nominees have film credits, although some are better known for their work in television. But as streaming services increasingly blur the lines between movies and TV, the academy could broaden its horizons as it looks to be more inclusive, even while staying true to its roots.

And the academy is in need of new blood. In a landmark 2012 study, The Times reported that voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the people who decide the Oscars — were 94% white and 77% male. In February of this year, The Times updated the study and found that little progress had been made: Oscar voters are now 91% white and 76% male.

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs has vowed to double the number of women and minorities in the academy by 2020, after her membership nominated an all-white slate of candidates in the four acting categories for a second year in a row, prompting the #OscarsSoWhite outrage. The academy will soon announce its annual list of candidates it plans to invite for membership.

We submit these 100 names to academy leaders for consideration.