The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences got down to business on Tuesday, setting its agenda for the next year in an all-hands meeting with its membership.
The official purpose, as noted in the annual virtual meeting’s invite, was to educate roughly 11,000 members “about the Academy’s leadership structure, budget, goals and priorities.”
The hourlong huddle was led by Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor and CEO Bill Kramer, Variety can report. It addressed the Academy’s $187 million budget for 2027, conversations surrounding AI and plans for the Oscars to hopefully reach “2 billion people” when the show begins airing on YouTube in 2029. Here are some key takeaways from the call.
Making Bank
The academy has set a budget of $187 million for the time period running July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. Awards expenses — including the production of the Oscars show, the nominees luncheon and dinners and more — account for 23% of the budget. Five % goes to bond repayment, with Academy programs and operations accounting for 12%. Foundation operations account for 19%, including museum exhibitions and screenings, education and talent development programs and the Academy collection. Personnel expenses across programs account for 41%.
“Diversifying our revenue streams is vitally important to the long-term health of the Academy. You hear us say this every year,” Kramer said. “In the past, 90% of our operating revenues used to be related to the Academy Awards. Now, thanks to our ongoing and very successful focus on revenue diversification, we are seeing greatly increased support from individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors, and from our museum gala and strong museum and event ticket sales.”
In the two years since launching the Academy 100 Revenue Diversification Campaign, $308 million has been raised toward the goal of raising $500 million by the end of 2028. Major donors to the campaign include Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBCUniversal and Apple. Luxury fashion and jewelry houses Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani and Tiffany & Co have all come on board, too.
And the Oscar Goes To
While summarizing the Oscars’ move from ABC to YouTube starting in 2029, Howell was hopeful that the ceremony has the potential to reach up to 2 billion people worldwide. A new deal with AEG means the Oscars will relocate from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood to the much larger Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The Peacock’s capacity tops out at 7,000 seats as opposed to the Dolby with just 3,400. “This new venue will allow our membership greater access to the Oscars tickets … and this was one of the core goals of this move,” Kramer said.
Tech Talk
Howell touched on AI, promising members that the Academy is and will continue to be fully engaged on issues surrounding AI and new technologies. “Our responsibility as an academy is not to be defined by either the fear or the hype,” she said. “It is to engage, and we are. We are actively participating in conversations across our industry about how these rapidly evolving technologies are being used and developed. Listening to the members who have concerns about them, as well as to the artists who are already experimenting with them and incorporating them into their work.”
She added that technology should be “a tool in service of human creativity rather than a replacement for it.”
Continuing, Howell said, “Human authorship is essential, and we don’t pretend to have all the answers. None of us does. The technology is moving too quickly for that, but the Academy should be a place where these conversations happen, where artists, craftspeople, scientists, and technologists can come together to help shape what comes next, rather than simply waiting for the future to happen to us.”
Antiques Roadshow
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Academy Collection director and president Amy Homma recapped some of the museum’s acquisitions over the last year, including the interior van set decoration and props from “Nomadland,” the bicycle from “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and the mummified prop corpse of Catherine Deneuve from “The Hunger.” The Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library has acquired Diane Keaton’s annotated script for “Manhattan Murder Mystery” and costume design drawings by Edith Head for Kim Novak in “Vertigo.” A never-before-seen 1929 John Wayne screen test on 35mm nitrate film was acquired for the film archive.
Kramer also announced that the Academy Film Archive building, officially known as the Pickford Center, will undergo renovations, including new or updated HVAC and mechanical systems, lighting systems and roofing structures, to be completed by the end of 2029.
