Film Academy Diversifies Membership, Adds Common, Kevin Hart, Dev Patel

The film academy has diversified its membership after being heavily criticized for the large number of white Oscar nominees the year before. The academy announced that it has sent out 322 membership invitees to a much younger and more diverse group.

"It's really gratifying to see the big increases in genre, people of color, age and national origin," academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said.

Some of the invitees included Kevin Hart, Common, Dev Patel, David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, John Legend, Sergio Mendes, Elizabeth Banks, Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy and Rick Famuyiwa. According to Buzzfeed, 32 percent of the actors, 38 percent of the directors and 48 percent of the writers who were invited were people of color.

"We've stressed very much that our members in each branch, it's their duty to really pay attention to a diverse talent pool, to those coming up, to those that may have been overlooked for membership," Boone Isaacs added. "I think that effort has paid off well this year."

Aside from being criticized for its lack of diversity, the academy has also been scrutinized over the fact that the members are mostly males.

In order to become a member of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, one has to be invited. Oscar nominees are automatically considered for membership whereas others have to be sponsored by two members who work in the same branch of the film industry.

There are nearly 6,000 members.