Oscars: Who Will Succeed Outgoing Film Academy President Janet Yang?

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In late July, for the first time since August 2022, there will be a new leadership at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Academy’s operations and approximately 700 employees, distributed across Los Angeles, New York, and London, are managed by a well-compensated CEO, who is Bill Kramer, a seasoned fundraiser, since June 2022. He intends to stay in this position. The organization’s leadership, comprising around 11,000 members worldwide, spread across over 80 countries, is not paid and is selected from the Academy’s board of governors. This role has been held by producer Janet Yang since August 2022. She is the 36th individual to assume this position, making her only the fourth woman and second person of color elected to it since the Academy was established in 1927.

In 2023 and 2024, Yang was re-elected as president, and it’s likely she would win again if eligible. However, due to term limits, she has to leave her position as governor after completing her second three-year term. This means she won’t be able to seek the presidency for at least two years (after which she can return for two more terms as a governor and potentially four more as president). As a result, the Academy’s board for 2025-2026, established in June through elections and appointments, needs to select a new top officer soon.

At this juncture, it appears appropriate to reflect on Yang’s period in office and consider who is well-positioned to take over, as suggested by THR‘s articles.

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Born in Queens and the daughter of Chinese immigrants, Yang, who is now 68 years old, became a member of the Academy in 2002. However, she wasn’t very active within the organization until the 2016 Oscars telecast when comedian Chris Rock made a joke at the expense of Asian children. This incident spurred Yang into action, rallying several fellow Academy members of Asian descent to pressure the Academy’s leadership for improvement. As a result, the then-CEO of the Academy, Dawn Hudson, issued an apology and pledged to work more closely with the community moving forward.

In a shrewd approach, Yang effectively promoted change within the Academy. For instance, in 2017, she extended an invitation to Hudson for a gathering of new members at the Asian Academy. This tactful move caught the Academy’s attention, leading them to ask her to join their A2020 Committee in 2018. This committee aimed to attract diverse talents from the filmmaking world to become Academy members.

In 2019, she was elevated to the board as one of three governors-at-large, a role specifically established following the #OscarsSoWhite movement to ensure that diversity and inclusion were prioritized in board discussions. Lastly, in 2020, the board selected her to head their membership and governance committee.

Since David Rubin’s mandatory departure as Academy president in 2022 due to term limits, Yang was esteemed enough to be selected as his successor over fellow producer and governor-at-large DeVon Franklin. Over the past three years, she, working closely with Kramer, has overseen a relatively peaceful era at the Academy, considering they both took office amidst numerous challenges. These included the aftermath of #OscarsSoWhite and the turmoil caused by Chris Rock at the 2016 Oscars, the Moonlight/La La Land fiasco in 2017, Will Smith’s shocking slap in 2022, the contentious decision to not broadcast live or in their entirety the awards for eight below-the-line categories prior to the 2022 telecast, which sparked outrage among many members, two of the lowest-rated Oscars ceremonies on record in 2021 and 2022.

As a gamer, I’ve found myself inheriting a handful of challenges this year. Back in 2020, the Academy introduced their divisive “inclusion standards” that made a film eligible for the Best Picture Oscar. These rules went into effect in 2024, but they seem to have had minimal impact, one way or another.

I also created a few self-inflicted problems – in a hastily deleted 2023 social media post, I endorsed my friend Michelle Yeoh for the Best Actress Oscar for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” This led to a new rule being implemented, preventing governors like me from making such endorsements.

Lastly, there was the unfortunate incident involving Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who was awarded the Best Documentary Oscar just days prior. My partner and I issued a weak statement in response, which drew heavy criticism. We eventually apologized for our insufficient reaction to this distressing event.

For the most part, the Yang era has generally received high praise both within and beyond the academic community.

During her presidency, some events transpired that likely would have unfolded under any other leader – for example, the reinstatement of fair representation across all categories during the Oscars broadcast, and the escalation of the Academy Museum Gala, a high-profile fundraiser for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. This event, initially held the year before she took office, has since grown to resemble the Met Gala of the west, garnering significant attention and income for the museum.

However, her unique influence has been noticeable in various aspects. The surge of Academy members from countries outside the U.S., a trend that gained momentum following the #OscarsSoWhite movement (which ultimately led to Parasite becoming the first non-English film to win Best Picture at the Oscars in 2020), has significantly increased during her term. Currently, non-Americans make up approximately a quarter of the membership. She and Kramer have made numerous trips abroad to nurture these new members personally, resulting in at least one non-American nominee in every category for the first time this year.

In 2023, she and the board introduced a stricter rule for wider movie theater releases for films competing for best picture, effective from 2024. This move was not well-received by streaming services, but was applauded by supporters of traditional cinema, especially during the bleakest period of the pandemic.

For the first time in decades, the board has decided to introduce two new Oscar categories: one for casting in 2024 (to be awarded in 2026) and another for stunts in 2025 (premiering in 2028). The casting and stunt communities, along with their supporters, are thrilled about this decision. However, the Academy’s usual broadcast partner for the Oscars, ABC, may prefer a ceremony with fewer categories and shorter duration.

Before the 2028 expiration of the current deal between the Academy and ABC, which is a significant source of its income, ratings for the Oscars under her leadership have consistently increased every year (from 16.62 million in 2022 to 18.7 million in 2023, then to 19.5 million in 2024 and 19.7 million in 2025). The Oscars also started live streaming in certain parts of Europe in 2023 and in the U.S. in 2025 for the first time, and the tone of the ceremonies has become less sarcastic, more festive, and almost entirely non-political. These changes should strengthen the Academy’s bargaining power in future negotiations.

* * *

Which brings us to the question of who will succeed Yang.

Typically, the individuals who become President of the Academy have been selected from among the current officers. During Yang’s last term, the officers were Howard A. Rodman (Vice President/Secretary), Donna Gigliotti (Vice President/Treasurer), Lynette Howell Taylor (Vice President), Lesley Barber (Vice President), and DeVon Franklin (Vice President). Gigliotti, Franklin, and Yang are all finishing their terms. This means that Rodman, Howell Taylor, and Barber remain as potential candidates for the presidency.

As a devoted admirer, I’ve picked up some intriguing tidbits about the upcoming leadership at THR. It appears that Rodman, a distinguished screenwriter, ex-president of the Writers Guild of America-West, and former professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts for 25 years, has chosen not to seek the presidency. Additionally, I’ve heard whispers about Barber, an acclaimed Canadian composer renowned for her collaborations with Kenneth Lonergan (she scored ‘You Can Count on Me’ in 2000 and ‘Manchester by the Sea’ in 2016), who currently heads the Academy’s membership committee. Interestingly, Barber had been contemplating a run, but as of now, she hasn’t actively pursued it. (Candidates need to be nominated by another governor before Thursday’s end.)

It’s widely believed among the inner circle that Howell Taylor, known for creating critically-acclaimed independent films like “Half Nelson” (2006), “Blue Valentine” (2010), and “Captain Fantastic” (2016), as well as studio productions such as the Oscar-nominated “A Star Is Born” (2018) and this year’s hit “The Accountant 2”, will take over from Yang.

Since joining the Academy in 2014, Howell Taylor has proven herself to be a suitable candidate for her role. She collaborated with Stephanie Allain on the 2020 Oscars broadcast, later being elected to the board that same year. For the past three years, she has served as chairperson of the Awards Committee, a group responsible for planning every aspect of the Oscars ceremonies. In recognition of her work, the 2024 telecast won four Emmys, including the award for best live variety special for the first time, and the 2025 telecast was nominated on Tuesday for six awards, including that same honor.

Born in Liverpool, England, Howell Taylor relocated to Hollywood at the age of 22. At present, she is 46 years old. If elected, she would become the fifth Academy president hailing from a country outside of the U.S., following Frank Lloyd (Scotland), Frank Capra (Italy), Jean Hersholt (Denmark) and Arthur Hiller (Canada). Additionally, if elected, Taylor would be the youngest Academy president in 70 years, a position last held by George Seaton at the age of 44.

She’s quite busy: Alongside her husband, Graham Taylor – co-president of Endeavor Content – they are parents to two young children. Unfortunately, their home in Pacific Palisades was affected by a wildfire recently. On top of that, a film titled “Roofman,” directed by Derek Cianfrance and starring Channing Tatum, is set for release later this year. Despite her busy schedule, she’s known for her unflagging energy. Her understanding of the Academy’s mechanisms and the Oscars could help her hit the ground running. Plus, she would only need to serve for a year since she will have to step down from the board a year from now due to the same term-limit as Yang, before potentially returning after a two-year break.

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2025-07-17 14:55