The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has officially announced its newly elected Board of Governors for 2025-2026. The group — which sets the Academy’s strategic vision, preserves the organization’s financial health, and assures the fulfillment of its mission — will take office at the first scheduled board meeting of the new term.
First-time board members include Focus Features chairperson Peter Kujawski and three-time Oscar-nominated composer Carter Burwell. The incumbent governors reelected to the board include Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, Oscar-nominated producer Jason Blum, and Oscar-nominated director Jason Reitman (who was also recently elected to The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Board of Trustees.) The list of governors returning to the board after a hiatus includes Emmy-winning screenwriter Larry Karaszewski.
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The Academy has 19 branches, each represented by three governors, except for the Animation Branch, represented by two governors; the Short Films Branch, represented by one governor; and the Production and Technology Branch, represented by one governor. The Production and Technology Branch and Short Films Branch did not hold elections this time around.
Governors, including the board-elected governors-at-large, may serve up to two three-year terms (consecutive or non-consecutive), followed by a two-year hiatus, after which eligibility renews for up to two additional three-year terms for a lifetime maximum of 12 years.
While the Academy did not feature demographic stats for this term of Governors, the previous year’s 55-member group was 53 percent women, with 27 percent of its membership belonging to an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.
Incumbent governors reelected to the Board:
Marlee Matlin, Actors Branch
Marlon West, Animation Branch
Richard Hicks, Casting Directors Branch
Dion Beebe, Cinematographers Branch
Jason Reitman, Directors Branch
Chris Hegedus, Documentary Branch
Nancy Richardson, Film Editors Branch
Jason Blum, Producers Branch
Missy Parker, Production Design Branch
Peter Devlin, Sound Branch
Elected to the Board for the first time:
Peter Kujawski, Executives Branch
Gigi Williams, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch
Carter Burwell, Music Branch
Andrew Roberts, Visual Effects Branch
Returning to the Board after a hiatus:
Isis Mussenden, Costume Designers Branch
Christina Kounelias, Marketing and Public Relations Branch
Larry Karaszewski, Writers Branch
They will join returning governors Pam Abdy, Wendy Aylsworth, Lesley Barber, K.K. Barrett, Rob Bredow, Brooke Breton, Paul Cameron, Patricia Cardoso, Eduardo Castro, David Dinerstein, Ava DuVernay, Linda Flowers, Jennifer Fox, Richard Gibbs, Jinko Gotoh, Lynette Howell Taylor, Kalina Ivanov, Simon Kilmurry, Laura C. Kim, Ellen Kuras, Hannah Minghella, Andy Nelson, Daniel Orlandi, Lou Diamond Phillips, Gerald Quist, Stephen Rivkin, Howard A. Rodman, Terilyn A. Shropshire, Dana Stevens, Mark P. Stoeckinger, Chris Tashima, Kim Taylor-Coleman, Jean Tsien, Rita Wilson, and Debra Zane.
New governors-at-large will be elected and announced later this month. The current 2024-2025 Academy governors list is available on the Academy website.
