Guillermo del Toro, Kris Bowers and More Elected to Expanded 60-Member Film Academy Board of Governors
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- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expanded its Board of Governors to 60 members under a February bylaws amendment that gives all 19 branches three branch-elected governors apiece, adding five seats to the Animation, Production and Technology, and Short Films branches.
- Guillermo del Toro and Kris Bowers were elected as first-time governors, joining new colleagues Michael Goi, Anne Goursaud, Patricia Dehaney, Fred Berger, Vic Armstrong, David Leitch and Kim Magnusson across their respective branches.
- Bonnie Arnold, Roger Ross Williams, Bernard Telsey, Bob Rogers and Paul Debevec returned to the board after a hiatus, while incumbents Lou Diamond Phillips, Hannah Minghella, Jinko Gotoh and eight others were reelected.
- Governors in the three expanded branches were elected to staggered one-, two- or three-year terms to implement the change, with the board reverting to its standard one-governor-per-branch, three-year cycle in 2027.
- The new board is 47% women and 32% members from underrepresented communities, based on self-reporting.
- A separate bylaws amendment now permits a sitting Academy president to run for reelection for up to four consecutive one-year terms, even when a hiatus would otherwise be required, serving as an ex officio governor through the end of that term.
Why it matters: The board's expansion to 60 members is the Academy's largest structural change in years and gives three historically underweighted branches — Animation, Production and Technology, and Short Films — equal representation; combined with the 47% women and 32% underrepresented community composition, the election reshapes who steers Oscar governance through the 2026-2027 cycle.
