Tuesday, December 16, 2025
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Clinton and Bush Foundations Received Millions from Midwest Charity Now Part of Federal Investigation

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EXCLUSIVE Johnny Depp,  Alice Cooper, John Mellencamp and Jay Leno will be among the performers at next month’s annual Starkey Hearing Foundation in Minneapolis. But for the first time in several years, there will be no Clintons and not even a Bush.

In recent years, the two past presidents and Hillary Clinton have all been guest speakers at Starkey’s dazzling gala in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Annual performers have included rock stars (Elton John), comedians (Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Chevy Chase), nostalgia acts (Frankie Valli), and TV stars of the past (hearing impaired “Hulk” star Lou Ferrigno).

The politicians — or rather their charities– have been well paid for it. The Starkey Foundation’s tax filings show that over the last four years they’ve given $2.2 million to the Clinton Foundation, $1.5 million to the George W. Bush Library, and close to $700,000 to Global Health Corps, a $5 million foundation run by Bush’s daughter Barbara.

But politicians are staying away this year as Starkey sorts out being part of an ongoing federal investigation led by dogged US Attorney Andrew Luger. There are also whispers of a sitting grand jury.

The Starkey Foundation is famous for doing good works around the world, supplying hearing aids to anyone who can’t afford them as the offshoot of Starkey Hearing Technologies, a leader in audiology equipment. Their charitable missions in Africa, South America and even the South Bronx are famous.

The Starkey reputation was glowing until last fall when it was suddenly marred by news of discord and scandal. Bill Austin, who’s owned the company since 1970, abruptly fired a bunch of top executives including the company’s president, who’d been there for 37 years. He claimed there was a conspiracy of some kind among the execs.

But sources say Austin wanted to put his stepson in a position of power, and the execs resisted. Austin had kicked a previous stepson (different marriage) to the curb, and the man had retaliated by starting a competitor. Austin didn’t want that to happen again.

The fired execs sued Starkey. Two of them filed whistleblower lawsuits claiming everything from Austin dodging taxes to the foundation fobbing off cheap product on charity cases. The company responded by countersuing, with claims against the execs including– in one case– embezzlement. For Minneapolis, it’s a nasty business in a small town.

The news came as a shock because Bill and Tani Austin, the owners of Starkey, are like the Carringtons of “Dynasty” in the Twin Cities– a golden couple on top of local society, admired by all, and benefactors of so many good works. I’ve been to the Austins’ home, and witnessed the excitement and enthusiasm in Minneapolis about them. It’s real.

But things have taken a turn– on June 21, two of the fired execs saw the cases against them moved to federal court from state court by US Attorney Andrew Luger. Luger had previously tried to stop discovery in the cases, claiming it was interfering with his own Starkey related investigations. But when Luger’s motion was denied he had the cases moved. (A third case is pending mediation.)

So now a federal investigation regarding Starkey is moving forward, with word of a grand jury that’s been meeting for months regarding the fired executives. News of the grand jury– which is supposed to be secret– apparently came out in papers filed by Starkey and Austin. That news, and the new attention of the US Attorney, means there’s no donation big enough to lure any Clintons or Bush back to Eden Prairie this summer.

 

 

 

New: Beatles Release Video from Las Vegas “Love” Show on 10th Anniversary– “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

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The Beatles have released a video from their Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas show “Love.” It’s the 10th anniversary of the spectactular show, and the “Love” album has just been made available on Spotify.

The track is George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” If you think you’ve never heard this before, that’s because you haven’t. The version only exists in the “Love” show. The late George Martin and Giles Martin added the strings from Beatles leftovers in the studio, with George Harrison’s permission.

I went to the opening of “Love” and the 1st year anniversary, and I’ve been back a couple of times over the years. It’s the best show in Las Vegas. Happy anniversary to the whole gang!

RIP R&B Great “Sir” Mack Rice, 82, Co-wrote “Respect Yourself” and “Mustang Sally”

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Sir Mack Rice died today in Detroit. He was 82 and an important part of R&B history.

Sir Mack was a gentle giant of R&B and a genius songwriter. He was an original member of the Falcons with Wilson Pickett and Eddie Floyd. He co-wrote “Respect Yourself,” a giant hit for the Staples Singer, with R&B star Luther Ingram. He wrote “Mustang Sally,” which Wilson had a huge hit on. Aretha Franklin played piano on the original demo. He went on to become a central figure in Memphis and Stax lore.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mack Rice several times. He appeared in my movie “Only the Strong Survive.” We had a birthday party for William Bell in Memphis. Mack and producer Jon Tiven came up with an impromptu birthday song. It’s on the DVD. Mack was a sweetheart. Jon went on to make an album with him called “This What I Do.”

So many great musicians have died already in 2016. They will all be missed. Mack Rice was special.

 

Respect Yourself demo sung by Luther Ingram

Mustang Sally demo sung by Sir Mack Rice

Oscars: Here’s the Complete List of 683 New Members of the Academy

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Here is the complete list of new members of the Academy.  Congrats to my friend Franklin Leonard, who runs the Black List, in the Associates category, and Lisa Taback in public relations. Very nice. And to Apichatpong Weerasethakul, drector of “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” “Tropical Malady” — best name in the whole Academy!

The 2016 invitees are:

Actors
Mahershala Ali – “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Parts 1 and 2),” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Anthony Anderson – “The Departed,” “Hustle & Flow”
Adam Beach – “Suicide Squad,” “Flags of Our Fathers”
Kate Beckinsale – “Love & Friendship,” “The Aviator”
Chadwick Boseman – “Captain America: Civil War,” “Get on Up”
John Boyega – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Attack the Block”
Betty Buckley – “Wyatt Earp,” “Carrie”
Rose Byrne – “X-Men: First Class,” “Bridesmaids”
Julie Carmen – “The Milagro Beanfield War,” “Gloria”
Enrique Castillo – “Déjà Vu,” “Bound by Honor”
Morris Chestnut – “G.I. Jane,” “Boyz N the Hood”
Cliff Curtis – “Live Free or Die Hard,” “Training Day”
Loretta Devine – “Crash,” “I Am Sam”
Carmen Ejogo – “Selma,” “Sparkle”
Idris Elba – “Beasts of No Nation,” “Pacific Rim”
America Ferrera – “Cesar Chavez,” “End of Watch”
Vivica A. Fox – “Kill Bill,” “Independence Day”
Andrew Garfield – “99 Homes,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”
Greta Gerwig – “Frances Ha,” “To Rome with Love”
Jesse D. Goins – “The Ugly Truth,” “Patriot Games”
Bruce Greenwood – “Flight,” “Star Trek”
Carla Gugino – “Watchmen,” “Night at the Museum”
Luis Guzmán – “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Carlito’s Way”
Dennis Haysbert – “Dear White People,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Tom Hiddleston – “Crimson Peak,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
James Hong – “Safe,” “Mulan”
Oscar Isaac – “Ex Machina,” “A Most Violent Year”
O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson* – “Ride Along,” “Friday”
Dakota Johnson – “Black Mass,” “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Cherry Jones – “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” “Signs”
Michael B. Jordan – “Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”
Daniel Dae Kim – “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” “Crash”
Regina King – “Ray,” “Jerry Maguire”
Brie Larson – “Room,” “Trainwreck”
Byung-Hun Lee – “Terminator Genisys,” “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
Nia Long – “Keanu,” “Boyz N the Hood”
Sal Lopez – “The Astronaut Farmer,” “Full Metal Jacket”
Ignacio López Tarso – “Under the Volcano,” “Nazarin”
Patti LuPone – “Parker,” “Driving Miss Daisy”
Peter Mackenzie – “Trumbo,” “42”
Rachel McAdams – “Spotlight,” “Midnight in Paris”
Eva Mendes – “The Place beyond the Pines,” “Hitch”
Tatsuya Nakadai – “Ran,” “Kagemusha”
Adepero Oduye – “The Big Short,” “12 Years a Slave”
Marisa Paredes – “The Skin I Live In,” “All about My Mother”
Nate Parker – “Beyond the Lights,” “Red Tails”
Harold Perrineau – “Zero Dark Thirty,” “28 Weeks Later”
Jorge Perugorría – “Che,” “Strawberry and Chocolate”
Silvia Pinal – “Vintage Model,” “The Exterminating Angel”
Freida Pinto – “Immortals,” “Slumdog Millionaire”
Michelle Rodriguez – “Avatar,” “Girlfight”
Anika Noni Rose – “For Colored Girls,” “Dreamgirls”
Cecilia Roth – “Lucia Lucia,” “All about My Mother”
Mark Rylance – “Bridge of Spies,” “The Other Boleyn Girl”
Pepe Serna – “The Black Dahlia,” “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez”
Martin Starr – “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” “Adventureland”
Elizabeth Sung – “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “The Joy Luck Club”
Sharmila Tagore – “Dhadkan,” “The World of Apu”
Tessa Thompson – “Creed,” “Dear White People”
Lorraine Toussaint – “Selma,” “Middle of Nowhere”
Glynn Turman – “Super 8,” “Men of Honor”
Gabrielle Union – “Top Five,” “Bad Boys II”
Jacob Vargas – “The 33,” “Jarhead”
Alicia Vikander – “The Danish Girl,” “Ex Machina”
Emma Watson – “The Bling Ring,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
Damon Wayans, Jr. – “Big Hero 6,” “Let’s Be Cops”
Marlon Wayans – “The Heat,” “Requiem for a Dream”
Rita Wilson – “It’s Complicated,” “Runaway Bride”
Daphne Zuniga – “Staying Together,” “Spaceballs”
Casting Directors
Shaheen Baig – “Youth,” “The Impossible”
Sharon Bialy – “Secret in Their Eyes,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus”
Sara Bilbatua – “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Devil’s Backbone”
Antoinette Boulat – “Diary of a Chambermaid,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Deirdre Bowen – “Eastern Promises,” “Billy Madison”
Jacqueline Brown – “Akeelah and the Bee,” “Jackie Brown”
Carmen Cuba – “The Martian,” “Side Effects”
Christian Kaplan – “The Book of Life,” “Rio”
Moonyeenn Lee – “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Blood Diamond”
Natalie Lyon – “Inside Out,” “Toy Story 3”
Walter Rippell – “Everybody Has a Plan,” “The Secret in Their Eyes”
Richard Rousseau – “Saint Laurent,” “Renoir”
Kim Taylor-Coleman – “Dope,” “Oldboy”
Manuel Teil – “Babel,” “Y Tu Mamá También”
Cinematographers
Bárbara Alvarez – “The Second Mother,” “Whisky”
C. Mitchell Amundsen – “Ride Along 2,” “Now You See Me”
Adam Arkapaw – “Macbeth,” “McFarland, USA”
Sergio Armstrong – “No,” “The Maid”
Michael Barrett – “Ted 2,” “A Million Ways to Die in the West”
Natasha Braier – “The Rover,” “The Milk of Sorrow”
Lula Carvalho – “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “RoboCop”
Caroline Champetier – “Holy Motors,” “Of Gods and Men”
Enrique Chediak – “The 5th Wave,” “The Maze Runner”
Charlotte Bruus Christensen – “Far from the Madding Crowd,” “The Hunt”
Sofian El Fani – “Timbuktu,” “Blue Is the Warmest Color”
Mátyás Erdély – “Son of Saul,” “The Quiet Ones”
Frank Griebe – “A Hologram for the King,” “Cloud Atlas”
Kirsten Johnson* – “CitizenFour,” “This Film Is Not Yet Rated”
Judith Kaufmann – “13 Minutes,” “Inbetween Worlds”
Jeanne Lapoirie – “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem,” “My Little Princess”
Hélène Louvart – “The Wonders,” “Pina”
Félix Monti – “Our Last Tango,” “The Secret in Their Eyes”
Peter Pau – “The Forbidden Kingdom,” “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”
Daniel Pearl – “Friday the 13th,” “Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem”
Poon Hang-Sang – “Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster,” “Kung Fu Hustle”
Gökhan Tiryaki – “Winter Sleep,” “Once upon a Time in Anatolia”
Kim White – “Inside Out,” “Toy Story 3”
Jo Willems – “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Parts 1 and 2),” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
Steve Yedlin – “Carrie,” “Looper”
Nelson Yu Lik-Wai – “A Simple Life,” “24 City”
Haris Zambarloukos – “Cinderella,” “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”
Zhao Fei – “The Sun Also Rises,” “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion”
Costume Designers
Olivier Bériot – “Lucy,” “Taken”
Madeline Fontaine – “The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet,” “Yves Saint Laurent”
Pierre-Yves Gayraud – “Albert Nobbs,” “The Bourne Identity”
Sonia Grande – “Magic in the Moonlight,” “Even the Rain”
Suttirat Anne Larlarb – “Steve Jobs,” “127 Hours”
Manon Rasmussen – “Nymphomaniac,” “A Royal Affair”
Designers
Yoshihito Akatsuka – “The Left Ear,” “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale”
Kokayi Ampah – “Knight and Day” “Flags of Our Fathers”
Jille Azis – “Magic in the Moonlight,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Hannah E. Beachler – “Miles Ahead,” “Creed”
Bert Berry – “Inside Out,” “Cars 2”
Celia Bobak – “The Martian,” “Shanghai”
Stephanie Carroll – “Elsa & Fred,” “Monsoon Wedding”
Sue Chan – “Gone Girl,” “300: Rise of an Empire”
Rodolfo Damaggio – “Tomorrowland,” “Terminator Genisys”
Rena DeAngelo – “Bridge of Spies,” “The Judge”
Warren Drummond – “Straight Outta Compton,” “Nightcrawler”
Colin Gibson – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Happy Feet Two”
Bernhard Henrich – “Bridge of Spies,” “Unfinished Business”
Kalina Ivanov – “Max,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Michael Anthony Jackson – “Gods of Egypt,” “Fantastic Four”
Philip Keller – “Jurassic World,” “The Last Witch Hunter”
Carolyn A. Loucks – “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “RoboCop”
Chris Lowe – “Spectre,” “Into the Woods”
Ina Mayhew – “Barbershop: The Next Cut,” “Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds”
Alice Normington – “Suffragette,” “Nowhere Boy”
Hamish Purdy – “The Revenant,” “Step Up All In”
Peter Ramsey* – “Penguins of Madagascar,” “Shrek the Third”
Pilar Revuelta – “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Mark Ricker –“Trumbo,” “Get on Up
Dena Roth – “The Wedding Ringer,” “Think Like a Man Too”
David Schlesinger – “True Story,” “Annie”
Richard Sherman – “The Gift,” “Beautiful Creatures”
Michael Standish – “The Danish Girl,” “Victor Frankenstein”
Yohei Taneda – “Monster Hunt,” “The Hateful Eight”
Lisa Thompson – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “San Andreas”
Patrice Vermette – “Sicario,” “The Young Victoria”
Frank Walsh – “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” “High-Rise”
Directors
Lenny Abrahamson – “Room,” “Frank”
Naji Abu Nowar – “Theeb”
Maren Ade – “Everyone Else,” “The Forest for the Trees”
Lexi Alexander – “Punisher: War Zone,” “Green Street Hooligans”
Haifaa al-Mansour – “Wadjda”
Ana Lily Amirpour – “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”
Amma Asante – “Belle,” “A Way of Life”
Katie Aselton – “Black Rock,” “The Freebie”
Ramin Bahrani – “99 Homes,” “At Any Price”
Anna Boden – “Mississippi Grind,” “It’s Kind of a Funny Story”
Catherine Breillat – “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Sex Is Comedy”
Israel Cárdenas – “Sand Dollars,” “Carmita”
Carlos Carrera – “Backyard,” “El Crimen del Padre Amaro”
Nuri Bilge Ceylan – “Winter Sleep,” “Once upon a Time in Anatolia”
Souleymane Cissé – “Brightness,” “The Wind”
Isabel Coixet – “Learning to Drive,” “Elegy”
Ryan Coogler* – “Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”
Scott Cooper – “Black Mass,” “Crazy Heart”
John Crowley – “Brooklyn,” “Closed Circuit”
Julie Dash – “Daughters of the Dust”
Tamra Davis – “Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child,” “Billy Madison”
Jonathan Dayton – “Ruby Sparks,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Dominique Deruddere – “Flying Home,” “Everybody Famous!”
Xavier Dolan – “Mommy,” “Tom at the Farm”
Cheryl Dunye – “My Baby’s Daddy,” “The Watermelon Woman”
Deniz Gamze Ergüven – “Mustang”
Valerie Faris – “Ruby Sparks,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Shana Feste – “Endless Love,” “Country Strong”
Hannah Fidell – “A Teacher”
Anne Fletcher – “The Proposal,” “Step Up”
Ari Folman – “The Congress,” “Waltz with Bashir”
Anne Fontaine – “Gemma Bovery,” “Coco before Chanel”
Cary Joji Fukunaga – “Beasts of No Nation,” “Jane Eyre”
Nicole Garcia – “A View of Love,” “Charlie Says”
Juan Antonio Garcia Bayona – “The Impossible,” “The Orphanage”
Sarah Gavron – “Suffragette,” “Brick Lane”
Lesli Linka Glatter – “The Proposition,” “Now and Then”
Ciro Guerra* – “Embrace of the Serpent,” “The Wind Journeys”
Laura Amelia Guzmán – “Sand Dollars,” “Carmita”
Sanaa Hamri – “Just Wright,” “Something New”
Mia Hansen-Løve* – “Eden,” “The Father of My Children”
Mahamet-Saleh Haroun – “Grigris,” “Our Father”
Mary Harron – “The Notorious Bettie Page,” “American Psycho”
Marielle Heller* – “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
Albert Hughes – “The Book of Eli,” “Dead Presidents”
Hou Hsiao-Hsien – “The Assassin,” “Three Times”
Patty Jenkins – “Wonder Woman,” “Monster”
Naomi Kawase* – “Still the Water,” “The Mourning Forest”
Abdellatif Kechiche – “Blue Is the Warmest Color,” “Black Venus”
Abbas Kiarostami – “Certified Copy,” “Taste of Cherry”
So Yong Kim – “For Ellen,” “In Between Days”
Kiyoshi Kurosawa – “Seventh Code,” “Pulse”
Karyn Kusama – “Jennifer’s Body,” “Girlfight”
Francis H. Lawrence – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “I Am Legend”
Tobias Lindholm* – “A War,” “A Hijacking”
Phyllida Lloyd – “The Iron Lady,” “Mamma Mia!”
Ken Loach – “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” “Kes”
Julia Loktev – “The Loneliest Planet,” “Day Night Day Night”
Ami Canaan Mann – “Jackie & Ryan,” “Texas Killing Fields”
Lucrecia Martel – “The Headless Woman,” “The Holy Girl”
Adam McKay* – “The Big Short,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”
Deepa Mehta – “Midnight’s Children,” “Water”
Ursula Meier – “Sister,” “Home”
Rebecca Miller* – “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” “Personal Velocity”
Karen Moncrieff – “The Dead Girl,” “Blue Car”
Cristian Mungiu* – “Graduation,” “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”
Anna Muylaert – “The Second Mother”
László Nemes* – “Son of Saul”
María Novaro – “The Good Herbs,” “Lola”
Victor Nunez – “Spoken Word,” “Ulee’s Gold”
Euzhan Palcy – “Siméon,” “A Dry White Season”
Park Chan-wook* – “Stoker,” “Oldboy”
Lucía Puenzo – “The German Doctor,” “El Niño Pez”
Lynne Ramsay – “We Need to Talk about Kevin,” “Morvern Callar”
Dee Rees – “Pariah”
Nicolas Winding Refn – “Only God Forgives,” “Drive”
Patricia Riggen – “The 33,” “Girl in Progress”
Gillian Robespierre – “Obvious Child”
Patricia Rozema – “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” “Mansfield Park”
Marjane Satrapi – “The Voices,” “Persepolis”
Sam Taylor-Johnson – “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Nowhere Boy”
George Tillman, Jr. – “Notorious,” “Soul Food”
Luis Valdez – “La Bamba,” “Zoot Suit”
Melvin Van Peebles – “Identity Crisis,” “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song”
Margarethe von Trotta – “Rosenstrasse,” “Marianne and Juliane”
Lana Wachowski – “Cloud Atlas,” “The Matrix Trilogy”
Lilly Wachowski – “Cloud Atlas,” “The Matrix Trilogy”
Taika Waititi – “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” “What We Do in the Shadows”
James Wan – “The Conjuring,” “Saw”
Keenan Ivory Wayans* – “Scary Movie,” “A Low Down Dirty Shame”
Apichatpong Weerasethakul – “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” “Tropical Malady”
Documentary
Joslyn Barnes – “The House I Live In,” “Trouble the Water”
Danielle Renfrew Behrens – “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” “The Queen of Versailles”
Joe Bini* – “Tales of the Grim Sleeper,” “Encounters at the End of the World”
Douglas Blush – “The Hunting Ground,” “The Invisible War”
Rachel Boynton – “Big Men,” “Our Brand Is Crisis”
Irene Taylor Brodsky – “The Final Inch,” “Hear and Now”
Margaret Brown – “The Great Invisible,” “The Order of Myths”
Nancy Buirski – “Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq,” “The Loving Story”
Maro Chermayeff – “Marina Abramovic The Artist Is Present,” “The Kindness of Strangers”
Ramona S. Diaz – “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” “Imelda”
James Gay-Rees – “Amy,” “Senna”
Haile Gerima – “Teza,” “Ashes and Embers”
Laurens Grant – “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” “Freedom Riders”
Richard Hankin – “Art and Craft,” “God Loves Uganda”
Kazuo Hara – “A Dedicated Life,” “The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On”
Thomas Allen Harris – “Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People,” “Twelve
                                       Disciples of Nelson Mandela”
Matthew Heineman – “Cartel Land,” “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare”
Judith Helfand – “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement,” “Blue Vinyl”
Amy Hobby – “What Happened, Miss Simone?,” “Shepard & Dark”
Kirsten Johnson* – “Cameraperson,” “CitizenFour”
Asif Kapadia – “Amy,” “Senna”
Aviva Kempner – “Rosenwald,” “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg”
Pedro Kos* – “The Square,” “Waste Land”
Victor Kossakovsky – “Vivan las Antipodas!,” “The Belovs”
Anita Lee – “Stories We Tell,” “Everybody’s Children”
Shola Lynch – “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners,” “Chisholm ’72 – Unbought & Unbossed”
Louis Massiah – “W.E.B. Dubois: A Biography in Four Voices”
Amanda Micheli – “La Corona,” “Double Dare”
Spencer Nakasako – “Refugee,” “A.K.A. Don Bonus”
Emiko Omori – “Rabbit in the Moon,” “Regret to Inform”
Joshua Oppenheimer – “The Look of Silence,” “The Act of Killing”
Dawn Porter – “Trapped,” “Gideon’s Army”
Gini Reticker – “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” “Asylum”
Azin Samari* – “Ethel,” “The September Issue”
Jessica Sanders – “After Innocence,” “Sing!”
Regina Scully – “The Hunting Ground,” “Alive Inside”
Signe Byrge Sørensen – “The Look of Silence,” “The Act of Killing”
David Teague – “Cutie and the Boxer,” “Freeheld”
Trinh T. Minh-ha – “Forgetting Vietnam,” “Surname Viet Given Name Nam”
Jean Tsien – “Shut Up & Sing,” “Scottsboro: An American Tragedy”
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi – “Meru,” “Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love”
Wang Bing – “Three Sisters,” “West of the Tracks”
Executives
Pam Abdy
Courtney D. Armstrong
Arturo Barquet
Arianna Bocco
Nicole Brown
Rona Cosgrove
Craig Dehmel
Zanne Devine
Lisa Ellzey
Monique Esclavissat
Pauline Fischer
DeVon Franklin
David W. Greenbaum
Matthew Greenfield
Erica Huggins
Peter Kujawski
Pamela Kunath
Christine Langan
Bonni Lee
James F. Lopez
Xavier Marchand
Anikah Elizabeth McLaren
James Rupert Jacob Murdoch
Lachlan K. Murdoch
Gigi Pritzker
Josh Sapan
Scott Shooman
Adrian Smith
Frank H. Smith
Darren Dennis Throop
Jason D. Young
Film Editors
Niels Pagh Andersen – “The Look of Silence,” “The Act of Killing”
Joe Bini* – “We Need to Talk about Kevin,” “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”
Bettina Böhler – “Phoenix,” “Barbara”
Pernille Bech Christensen – “The Salvation,” “In a Better World”
Raúl Antonio Dávalos – “The Amateurs,” “Meet Wally Sparks”
Marie-Hélène Dozo – “Two Days, One Night,” “L’Enfant”
Amy E. Duddleston – “Elegy,” “Laurel Canyon”
Suzy Elmiger – “Lola Versus,” “Mighty Fine”
Sim Evan-Jones – “Shaun the Sheep Movie,” “Shrek”
Sarah Flack – “Away We Go,” “Lost in Translation”
Affonso Gonçalves – “Carol,” “Winter’s Bone”
Matthew Hamachek – “Cartel Land,” “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
Chris King – “Amy,” “Exit through the Gift Shop”
Pedro Kos* – “The Square,” “Waste Land”
Sylvie Landra – “Catwoman,” “The Fifth Element”
Tom McArdle – “Spotlight,” “The Station Agent”
Adam Nielsen – “A War,” “A Hijacking”
Kevin Nolting – “Inside Out,” “Up”
Nathan Nugent – “Room,” “Frank”
Stan Salfas – “Morning,” “Let Me In”
Azin Samari* – “Ethel,” “The September Issue”
Margaret Sixel – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Happy Feet”
Mary Stephen – “Blind Mountain,” “A Tale of Winter”
Troy Takaki – “Baggage Claim,” “The Bounty Hunter”
Camilla Toniolo – “His Way,” “Company Man”
Bernat Vilaplana – “Crimson Peak,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Pax Wassermann – “Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me,” “Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer”
Julia Wong – “Hercules,” “Extract”
Mark Yoshikawa – “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Parts 1 and 2),” “The Tree of Life”
Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Karen Asano-Myers – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “42”
Pierce Austin – “Concussion,” “After Earth”
Julie Dartnell – “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Les Misérables”
Beatrice De Alba – “Away We Go,” “Frida”
Dave Elsey – “Mr. Holmes,” “The Wolfman”
Camille Friend – “The Hateful Eight,” “Django Unchained”
Anita Gibson – “Beyond the Lights,” “Top Five”
Giorgio Gregorini – “The Impossible,” “Apocalypto”
Siân Grigg – “The Revenant,” “Ex Machina”
Norma Hill-Patton – “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “The Company You Keep”
Duncan Jarman – “The Revenant,” “Rush”
Love Larson – “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared,” “The Girl Who Played with
                          Fire”
Angela Levin – “Cake,” “Horrible Bosses”
Ivana Primorac – “Anna Karenina,” “The Reader”
Beverly Jo Pryor – “Straight Outta Compton,” “Selma”
Jan Sewell – “The Danish Girl,” “The Theory of Everything”
Maurizio Silvi – “The Great Gatsby,” “Moulin Rouge”
Heba Thorisdottir – “The Hateful Eight,” “Bridesmaids”
Lesley Vanderwalt – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Great Gatsby”
Eva von Bahr – “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared,” “The Girl with the Dragon
                           Tattoo”
Music
Lesley Barber – “The Moth Diaries,” “Los Locos”
Wendy Blackstone – “Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger,” “To Be Heard”
Mary J. Blige – “The Help,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Kathryn Bostic – “Dear White People,” “The New Black”
Carl Davis – “The Understudy,” “Scandal”
Joseph S. DeBeasi – “The Revenant,” “Sicario”
Joanie Diener – “Merchants of Doubt,” “The Skulls”
Fitzgerald Diggs (RZA) – “Django Unchained,” “The Man with the Iron Fists”
Germaine Franco – “Dope,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”
Sia Furler – “Zootopia,” “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Peter Golub – “Audrey,” “Countdown to Zero”
Amanda Goodpaster – “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
Tanya Noel Hill – “Ant-Man,” “Chef”
Deborah Lurie – “Safe Haven,” “Dear John”
Heather McIntosh – “Z for Zachariah,” “Honeymoon”
Marcus Miller – “About Last Night,” “Deliver Us from Eva”
Antonio Pinto – “Amy,” “Senna”
Raphael Saadiq – “Epic,” “Love and Basketball”
Jim Schultz – “Black Mass,” “Inglourious Basterds”
Del Spiva – “Fury,” “Prometheus”
Taura Stinson – “Rio 2,” “Black Nativity”
Joseph Trapanese – “Straight Outta Compton,” “Nightcrawler”
Shigeru Umebayashi – “The Grandmaster,” “2046”
Fernando Velázquez – “Crimson Peak,” “Mama”
Will.i.am – “The Great Gatsby,” “Rio”
Marcelo Zarvos – “Rock the Kasbah,” “The Beaver”
Producers
Belén Atienza – “Out of the Dark,” “The Impossible”
Amy Baer – “A Storm in the Stars,” “Last Vegas”
David Barron – “Cinderella,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Parts 1 and 2)
Ram Bergman – “Don Jon,” “Looper”
Virginie Besson-Silla – “Lucy,” “The Lady”
Fernando Bovaira – “Biutiful,” “The Sea Inside”
Anne Carey – “Mr. Holmes,” “The Savages”
Debra Martin Chase – “Sparkle,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”
Bonnie Curtis – “Albert Nobbs,” “Minority Report”
Susan Downey – “The Judge,” “Sherlock Holmes”
Ed Guiney – “Room,” “Frank”
Paul E. Hall – “Peeples,” “For Colored Girls”
Rachael Horovitz – “Maggie’s Plan,” “Moneyball”
Mark Huffam – “The Martian,” “Exodus: Gods and Kings”
Elizabeth Karlsen – “Carol,” “Made in Dagenham”
Gail Katz – “Pawn Sacrifice,” “The Perfect Storm”
Amy Kaufman – “Beasts of No Nation, “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”
Neil Kopp – “Green Room,” “Wendy and Lucy”
Kristie Macosko Krieger – “Bridge of Spies,” “Lincoln”
David Lancaster – “Eye in the Sky,” “Whiplash”
Albert Lee – “Chinese Zodiac,” “Let the Bullets Fly”
Roy Lee – “The Lego Movie,” “Abduction”
Mynette Louie – “Land Ho!,” “Cold Comes the Night”
Daniela Taplin Lundberg – “Beasts of No Nation,” “The Kids Are All Right”
Lori McCreary – “The Magic of Belle Isle,” “Invictus”
Edward L. McDonnell – “Sicario,” “Insomnia”
Jamie Patricof – “Mississippi Grind,” “Blue Valentine”
Amanda Posey – “Brooklyn,” “An Education”
Heather Rae – “The Dry Land,” “Frozen River”
Alexander Rodnyansky – “Leviathan,” “Stalingrad”
Esther García Rodríguez – “Wild Tales,” “The Skin I Live In”
Anish Savjani – “Green Room,” “Meek’s Cutoff”
Allison Shearmur – “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” “Cinderella”
Michael Sugar – “Spotlight,” “The Fifth Estate”
Robert Teitel – “Barbershop: The Next Cut,” “Men of Honor”
Rodrigo Teixeira – “The Witch,” “Mistress America”
Nina Yang Bongiovi – “Dope,” “Fruitvale Station”
Public Relations
Michael S. Agulnek
Marina Bailey
Jacqueline L. Bazan
Stephen D. Bruno
Cassandra O. Butcher
Zachary Eller
Linda Guerrero
Barry Dale Johnson
Kate Lee
Amy Mastriona
R.J. Millard
Kelly Bush Novak
Fumiko Kitahara Otto
Jack Pan
Terra Potts
Arnold Robinson
David Stern
Lisa Taback
Jean-Pierre Vincent
David S. Waldman
Ryan Werner
Katherine Willing
Short Films and Feature Animation
Alê Abreu – “Boy and the World,” “Cosmic Boy”
Line K. Andersen – “The Croods,” “Monsters vs Aliens”
Bruce Anderson – “Rio 2,” “Rio”
Graham Annable – “The Boxtrolls,” “ParaNorman”
Guillaume Aretos – “Puss in Boots,” “Shrek the Third”
Serena Armitage – “Stutterer,” “Scorned”
Sanjay Bakshi – “The Good Dinosaur,” “Monsters University”
Maxwell Boas – “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “Rise of the Guardians”
Lydia Bottegoni – “Hotel Transylvania,” “Surf’s Up”
Rebecca Wilson Bresee – “Zootopia,” “Frozen”
Mark Burton – “Shaun the Sheep Movie,” “Gnomeo & Juliet”
Chris Butler – “ParaNorman,” “Coraline”
Clément Calvet – “Cafard,” “Song of the Sea”
Tom Cardone – “Rio 2,” “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!”
Marci Carlin – “The Soul of Nashville,” “Human Destiny”
Galen Tan Chu – “Epic,” “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”
Benjamin Cleary – “Love Is a Sting,” “Stutterer”
Pam Coats – “Gnomeo & Juliet,” “Mulan”
Melissa Beth Cobb – “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “Kung Fu Panda 2”
Deborah Cook – “The Boxtrolls,” “ParaNorman”
Jamie Oliver Donoughue – “Shok,” “Life on the Line”
Renato Dos Anjos – “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Bolt”
Jeff Draheim – “Frozen,” “The Princess and the Frog”
Karen Dufilho – “Duet,” “For the Birds”
Pato Escala – “Bear Story”
Katie Fico – “Zootopia,” “Feast”
Michael Fong – “Inside Out,” “Toy Story 3”
Lori Forte – “Epic,” “Ice Age Continental Drift”
Oorlagh George – “The Shore”
Jonathan Gibbs – “Turbo,” “The Croods”
Steven Goldberg – “Frozen,” “Tangled”
Judith Gruber-Stitzer – “Wild Life,” “When the Day Breaks”
Jorge R. Gutierrez – “The Book of Life,” “Carmelo”
Jane Hartwell – “The Croods,” “Madagascar”
Georgina Hayns – “The Boxtrolls,” “ParaNorman”
Janet Healy – “Minions,” “Despicable Me 2”
Tang K. Heng – “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “Kung Fu Panda”
Jon W.S. Huertas – “The Box,” “Lone”
Raman Hui – “Monster Hunt,” “Shrek the Third”
Claire Jennings – “Coraline,” “Father and Daughter”
Yong Duk Jhun – “The Croods,” “Shrek Forever After”
Sahim Omar Kalifa – “Bad Hunter,” “Baghdad Messi”
Scott Kersavage – “Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Basil Khalil – “Ave Maria,” “Shooter”
Michael Knapp – “Epic,” “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”
Robert Kondo – “The Dam Keeper,” “La Luna”
Shawn Krause – “Inside Out,” “Cars 2”
Max Lang – “Room on the Broom,” “The Gruffalo”
Nicolas Marlet – “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
Steve Martino – “The Peanuts Movie,” “Ice Age Continental Drift”
Dale Mayeda – “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” “Frozen”
Brian McLean – “The Boxtrolls,” “ParaNorman”
Mike Mitchell – “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” “Shrek Forever After”
Joe Moshier – “Penguins of Madagascar,” “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
James Ford Murphy – “Lava,” “Cars”
Kiel Murray – “Up,” “Cars”
Yoshiaki Nishimura – “When Marnie Was There,” “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
Kyle Odermatt – “Big Hero 6,” “Paperman”
Linda Campos Olszewski – “Car-Ma’,” “A Bad Hair Day”
Gabriel Osorio – “Bear Story,” “Residuos”
Sanjay Patel – “Sanjay’s Super Team,” “Tokyo Mater”
Martin Pope – “Room on the Broom,” “Chico & Rita”
Christian Potalivo – “The New Tenants,” “The Pig”
Tina Price – “Dinosaur,” “Fantasia/2000”
Peter Ramsey* – “Rise of the Guardians,” “Monsters vs Aliens”
Denise Ream – “The Good Dinosaur,” “Cars 2”
Julie Roy – “Carface,” “Kali the Little Vampire”
Damon Russell – “Curfew,” “Brink”
William Salazar – “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “Monsters vs Aliens”
Scott Santoro – “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2,” “Flushed Away”
Katherine Sarafian – “Brave,” “Lifted”
Kent Seki – “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” “Megamind”
Osnat Shurer – “One Man Band,” “Boundin’”
Mireille Soria – “Home,” “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted”
Richard Starzak – “Shaun the Sheep Movie,” “A Matter of Loaf and Death”
Michael D. Surrey – “The Princess and the Frog,” “The Lion King”
Galyn Susman – “Ratatouille,” “Toy Story 2”
Imogen Sutton – “Prologue,” “The Thief and the Cobbler”
Dice Tsutsumi – “The Dam Keeper,” “Monsters University”
Nora Twomey – “Song of the Sea,” “The Secret of Kells”
Pablo Valle – “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “Turbo”
Michael Venturini – “The Good Dinosaur,” “Toy Story 3”
Pierre-Olivier Vincent – “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “How to Train Your Dragon”
Patrick Vollrath – “Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut),” “The Jacket (Die Jacke)”
Dan Wagner – “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “Kung Fu Panda 2”
Koji Yamamura – “Muybridge’s Strings,” “Mt. Head”
Hiromasa Yonebayashi – “When Marnie Was There,” “The Secret World of Arrietty”
Raymond Zibach – “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas”
Sound
Pud Cusack – “Free State of Jones,” “The Mask of Zorro”
Susan Dawes – “Deadpool,” “Wild”
Chris Duesterdiek – “The Revenant,” “Elysium”
Tammy Fearing – “Trainwreck,” “Bridesmaids”
Roberto Fernandez – “St. Vincent,” “Drive”
Eric Flickinger – “The Big Short,” “World War Z”
Gabriel Gutiérrez – “Automata,” “Mama”
Matthew Harrison – “Paper Towns,” “The Maze Runner”
Nina Hartstone – “The Book Thief,” “Gravity”
Michael Hertlein – “The Hateful Eight,” “American Hustle”
Paul Hsu – “Spotlight,” “Salt”
George Lara – “Chi-Raq,” “Spotlight”
Anna MacKenzie – “Spectre,” “Prometheus”
John G. Marquis – “Godzilla,” “Beautiful Creatures”
James Harley Mather – “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” “Sherlock Holmes”
Chuck Michael – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past”
Timothy Karl Nielsen – “Racing Extinction,” “War Horse”
Eric Norris – “Unbroken,” “Man of Steel”
Ben Osmo – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Happy Feet Two”
Eliza Paley – “Miles Ahead,” “Carol”
Glenfield Payne – “Beasts of No Nation,” “Blue Jasmine”
Michele Perrone – “The Revenant,” “Straight Outta Compton”
Lisa Pinero – “Steve Jobs,” “Fury”
Mac Ruth – “The Martian,” “World War Z”
Christopher Scarabosio – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Paul P. Soucek – “Fright Night,” “Michael Clayton”
Nancy Nugent Title – “Spy,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
Richard Toenes – “Iron Man 3,” “Warrior”
Todd Toon – “The Revenant,” “The Princess and the Frog”
Bernard Weiser – “American Hustle,” “The Hurt Locker”
David White – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Railway Man”
Byron Wilson – “Black Mass,” “True Grit”
Matthew R. Wood – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “WALL-E”
Tamás Zányi – “Son of Saul,” “Delta”
Visual Effects
Kevin Baillie – “The Walk,” “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
Sara Bennett – “Ex Machina,” “Hercules”
Theo Bialek – “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” “The Smurfs 2”
Richard Bluff – “The Big Short,” “Unbroken”
Steve Cremin – “Hail, Caesar!,” “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Parts 1 and 2)”
Lindy Wilson De Quattro – “Pacific Rim,” “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”
Adrian de Wet – “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Parts 1 and 2),” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
Matt Dessero – “Jupiter Ascending,” “Divergent”
Deak Ferrand – “By the Sea,” “Lucy”
Ronald Frankel – “Gods of Egypt,” “Riddick”
John Gibson – “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Snow White and the Huntsman”
Martin Hill – “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2,” “Furious Seven”
Bruce L. Holcomb – “Ant-Man,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”
Andrew Jackson – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
Matthew Jacobs – “Gods of Egypt,” “Deliver Us from Evil”
Anders Langlands – “The Martian,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past”
Seth Maury – “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb,” “Maleficent”
Rich McBride – “The Revenant,” “Gravity”
Kelvin McIlwain – “Furious Seven,” “Snow White and the Huntsman”
Paul Norris – “Ex Machina,” “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”
Dan Oliver – “Gods of Egypt,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Edward M. Pasquarello – “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,” “Tomorrowland”
Betsy Paterson – “The Hunger Games,” “The Incredible Hulk”
Matthew Shumway – “The Revenant,” “Life of Pi”
Jason Smith – “The Revenant,” “Super 8”
Kevin Andrew Smith – “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” “Krampus”
Simone Kraus Townsend – “Ant-Man,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”
Stefano Trivelli – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Pan”
Adam Valdez – “Maleficent,” “World War Z”
David Vickery – “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” “Fast & Furious 6”
Steven Warner – “The Brothers Grimsby,” “The Martian”
Andrew Whitehurst – “Ex Machina,” “Paddington”
Andy Williams – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Fury”
Tom Wood – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Last Witch Hunter”
Writers 
Jonathan Aibel – “Kung Fu Panda” series, “Monsters vs Aliens”
Sherman Alexie – “The Business of Fancydancing,” “Smoke Signals”
Glenn Berger – “Kung Fu Panda” series, “Monsters vs Aliens”
Andrea Berloff – “Straight Outta Compton,” “World Trade Center”
Vera Blasi – “Tortilla Soup,” “Woman on Top”
Ryan Coogler* – “Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”
Destin Daniel Cretton – “Short Term 12,” “I Am Not a Hipster”
Emma Donoghue – “Room”
Tina Fey – “Mean Girls”
Efthimis Filippou – “The Lobster,” “Dogtooth”
Jennifer Flackett-Levin – “Little Manhattan,” “Wimbledon”
Ryan Fleck – “Mississippi Grind,” “Half Nelson”
Alex Garland – “Ex Machina,” “28 Days Later”
Drew Goddard – “The Martian,” “Cloverfield”
Ciro Guerra* – “Embrace of the Serpent,” “The Wind Journeys”
Mia Hansen-Løve* – “Eden,” “The Father of My Children”
Marielle Heller* – “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
David Henry Hwang – “Possession,” “Golden Gate”
O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson* – “The Players Club,” “Friday”
Jia Zhangke – “Mountains May Depart,” “Still Life”
Miranda July – “The Future,” “Me and You and Everyone We Know”
Laeta Kalogridis – “Terminator Genisys,” “Shutter Island”
Naomi Kawase* – “Still the Water,” “Firefly”
Richard Kelly – “Domino,” “Donnie Darko”
Takeshi Kitano – “Outrage,” “Kikujiro”
Hirokazu Koreeda – “Like Father, Like Son,” “Nobody Knows”
Yorgos Lanthimos – “The Lobster,” “Dogtooth”
Lee Chang-dong – “Poetry,” “Oasis”
Sebastián Lelio – “Gloria,” “Navidad”
Mark Levin – “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Nim’s Island”
Tobias Lindholm* – “A War,” “The Hunt”
Adam McKay* – “The Big Short,” “The Other Guys”
Rebecca Miller* – “Maggie’s Plan,” “The Ballad of Jack and Rose”
Abi Morgan – “Suffragette,” “The Iron Lady”
Cristian Mungiu* – “Beyond the Hills,” “Occident”
Phyllis Nagy – “Carol”
László Nemes* – “Son of Saul”
Park Chan-wook* – “Thirst,” “Oldboy”
Charles Randolph – “The Big Short,” “The Life of David Gale”
Carlos Reygadas – “Silent Light,” “Battle in Heaven”
Clara Royer – “Son of Saul”
Misan Sagay – “Belle,” “The Secret Laughter of Women”
Lorene Scafaria – “The Meddler,” “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”
Josh Singer – “Spotlight,” “The Fifth Estate”
Keenan Ivory Wayans* – “White Chicks,” “A Low Down Dirty Shame”
Alice Winocour – “Mustang,” “Home”
Members-at-Large
Tina Anderson
M. James Arnett
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Schawn Belston
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Oscars: Academy Invites Include Brothers (Murdoch) and Sisters (Wachowski) Who Used to Be Brothers

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Among the new members of the Academy are a pair of brothers and a pair of sisters who used to be brothers.

Under Studio Executives, James Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch, sons of Rupert, are now Oscar voters. They own Fox Studios so it does make sense. Will they just push right wing films?

Under Directors: Lana and Lilly Wachowski, who used to be Larry and Andy. The directors of “The Matrix” are certainly the first ever sibling transgenders to become part of the Academy. I’m surprised they weren’t in as brothers. (If so, then it’s even steven, as Jerry Seinfeld used to say.)

It’s really a new day.

Oscars: A Flood of Black Actors, Directors Etc Invited to Join Academy of Motion Pictures! (Finally)

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Loretta Devine has been asked to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She’s one of many non white actors who’ve been invited today, and it’s about time!

The numbers went up 46% among women and 41% among people of color.

Among the directors: Melvin van Peebles. How is it that Melvin van Peebles was never in the Academy? Shocking!

Among the others: America Ferrara, Dennis Haysbert, Chadwick Boseman, John Boyega, Morris Chestnut, Carmen Ejogo, Idris Elba, Vivica A. Fox, Luis Guzman, Ice Cube, Regina King, Michael B, Jordan, Adepero Oduye, Harold Perrineau, Michelle Rodriguez, Anika Noni Rose, Glynn Turman, Marlon Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr., Keenan Ivory Wayans (directors branch), Mahershala Ali, Gabrielle Union and Lorraine Toussaint. Nia Long is in. Freida Pinto — you mean she wasn’t asked right after “Slumdog Millionaire”? Good grief!

It’s freaking amazing to me that some of these names weren’t already in. But here they are and god bless Cheryl Boone Isaacs for pulling this off! And these were just actors. Among directors Ryan Coogler is in, and I’ll add some more names shortly. Keep refreshing.

PS Among the white inductees: Rita Wilson, aka Mrs. Tom Hanks, in movies for 30 years, was never asked before this? And Bruce Greenwood, an MVP every year in countless films, not til now? Weird!

Congratulations to everyone!

Summer Studio Collapse: Tarzan May Follow Independence Day

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Now it’s time to worry. Reviews for the new Tarzan movie are coming in and they’re not good. Warner Bros, which still has a potential blockbuster in Suicide Squad, may be facing a domestic disaster with this one. Some twitter comments include the word racist. Oy vey.  Stay tuned…

Michael Jackson’s Book Editor Skeptical About Audio Tapes, Says He Had “Utmost Respect for Prince”

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It’s not like we take the UK Mirror seriously. But they’ve been flacking so called quotes from so-called audio tapes they say Michael Jackson made when he was writing his book “Moonwalk” in 1988. On the tapes, the Mirror– not exactly a Pulitzer finalist– says Michael dissed Prince many different times.

This didn’t sound plausible to me, and the Mirror has not actually offered up the tapes or transcripts.  So I called up the editor of “Moonwalk,” Shaye Arehart, now head of the Columbia University Publishing Program. Shaye worked for Jackie Onassis at Doubleday as senior editor. She sat with Michael and recorded him, and put “Moonwalk” together.

Shaye had not heard about this latest contretemps. She is skeptical that anyone has any tapes. She told me, “All of the tapes are under the control of Michael’s estate.” That is, if there are tapes. And transcripts are a total question mark. But when she was done editing the book, all the tapes went back to Michael’s office.

As for Prince, Shaye told me: “I always found that Michael had the utmost respect for Prince. And he named his son Prince? Has no one thought of that?”

Indeed. The Michael Jackson-Prince feud sounds concocted at best. I’m also mystified why stories of Michael’s so called “porn” collection have surfaced as repurposed garbage. All of the books, magazines and pictures at Neverland were indexed and put into evidence at Michael’s 2005 trial. All of it was thrown out or disproved to be anything. The jury found him innocent of owning child porn or any porn. The whole thing now feels contrived and orchestrated. To what purpose, I can’t imagine.

Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees to Release First Album of New Songs Since 2001

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Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees is back! He’s releasing his second solo album ever this fall– his first album of new material since the last Bee Gees album in 2001. “In the Now” is produced by John Merchant and recorded with Barry’s 2014 band in Miami.

This release is a coup for Columbia Records’ Rob Stringer. The Bee Gees remain one of the top groups of all time. But the tragic deaths of Barry’s brothers Maurice and Robin, each from cancer, seemed to put an end to any music from the Gibb family.

Barry did make an album of duets with Barbra Streisand a few years ago which suffered from insufferable orchestral arrangements. But a real Barry Gibb album should be full of life and hooks. The Bee Gees songbook has dozens of hits, most notably the “Saturday Night Fever” songs but lots of other terrific ones from “Lonely Days” to “Run to Me” and “You Should Be Dancing.” The list goes on and on!

Look for a big sales build up on this one. If the Monkees and Paul Simon can hit number 1, Barry Gibb is going to zoom!

PS Already a given: at least a whole hour devoted to Barry on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show. Jimmy does an amazing imitation of the eldest Gibb.

 

Gossip Legend Liz Smith, 93, Is Taking a Vacation: “I’ll be sure to come back as — a Margarita!”

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Liz Smith is taking a vacation. Doesn’t she deserve it? The all time legend of gossip is 93 years young. Liz is taking a break from her daily column written with Denis Ferrara– which appears on New York Social Diary-– until July 18th. They’re moving out of their gossip HQ on East 38th St. after 40 years, too. I hear Liz has new digs uptown.

Liz writes today that she’ll miss dining in her favorite spot, El Rio Grande. This is a Tex Mex place in the base of her building, with Texas and Mexico sides to it. Liz sits on the Texas side, of course!

She writes: “This means, among other things, saying a farewell — at least on a daily basis — to the wonderful El Rio Grande restaurant that occupies the ground floor of this building. No more of those delectable fresh tostadas, or those gasoline-fueled Margaritas. (If I were younger I might say that the latter deprivation is a good thing, but … I am NOT younger and one only lives once, or so I am told. If this is not true, I’ll be sure to come back as — a Margarita!)”

Liz’s column appeared in the New York Daily News and the New York Post at different times starting in the mid 1970s. She made a big splash in the 90s when she went to New York Newsday and the LA Times Syndicate. This was before the internet and before gossip was simply made up or re-purposed out of thin air. Liz didn’t write it if it wasn’t exactly right. Her scoops were real stories– not supposition. She wielded her power — which was awesome– with grace and wit, and the best sense of humor. She still does.

Liz, Denis and Mary Jo McDonough will be back on July 18th, refreshed and ready for a new season. I just hope they use a lot of SPF!

PS You can still wrangle a copy of Liz’s wonderful memoir, “Natural Blonde,” from Amazon. What beach book. You can’t put it down!