The Academy Does the Right Thing and Breaks up the Shorts

I was worried about the branch of the Oscars that contained both the animated and the Feature Animation branch. It was almost as big as the acting branch by the time they split it up. Here is what it used to look like:

Actors drive the preferential ballot because there are more of them. Here is the breakdown of branches, courtesy of our pal Steve Pond at The Wrap.

1,302 — Actors
867 — Animated Feature (plus shorts)
648 — Documentary
615 — Visual Effects
573 — Directors
549 — Sound
510 — Writers
390 — Production Design
388 — Score
376 — Editing
290 — Cinematographers
236 — Makeup and Hairstyling
169 — Costumers

Or, if you prefer pie charts:

Now, there will be 700 in the Animated Feature branch and 200 in the shorts. No doubt, the needs are slightly different between the two groups.

ACADEMY TO CREATE TWO INDIVIDUAL BRANCHES FROM
SHORT FILMS AND FEATURE ANIMATION BRANCH:
ANIMATION BRANCH AND SHORT FILMS BRANCH

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted today to make the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch two distinct branches, the Animation Branch and the Short Films Branch.

The Animation Branch represents approximately 700 Academy members working within every aspect of the animation industry. The branch will have two governor representatives on the Board of Governors and oversee the Animated Feature Film and Animated Short Film awards.

The Short Films Branch comprises more than 200 Academy members whose artistic work encompasses both narrative and nonfiction short filmmaking. The branch will have one governor representative on the Board of Governors to be elected for a term starting in the 2024-2025 fiscal year and oversee the Live Action Short Film award.

“The Academy is dedicated to advancing and evolving with our growing global membership and with the film industry,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.
“Creating distinct identities for these unique and vital components of our cinema community is part of this needed progress.”

“As both the Academy’s shorts and animation communities have grown, and to ensure they continue to thrive, the need for two individual branches became increasingly apparent,” said Academy Short Films and Feature Animation Branch governors Bonnie Arnold, Jinko Gotoh and Marlon West. “We’re excited about the future of these two branches and thank our fellow governors for their support.”

The Academy now comprises 19 branches representing all facets of the film industry. The Board of Governors will remain at its current size of 55 members.

The Short Subjects Branch was initially created in 1941 and was renamed the Short Films Branch in 1974. In 1995, the branch was renamed the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch. The Animated Feature Film award category was established in 2001.