The Academy board has voted to split the short films and feature animation branch as leadership cited the need to allow both communities to ”thrive”.
The change will result in 19 branches representing various facets of the film industry and comes into effect after the 96th Academy Awards on March 10. Final voting for this year’s Oscars ends on Tuesday.
The board of governors will remain at its current size of 55 members.
There are currently three governors representing the short films and feature animation branch. One governor will not be replaced when the term ends this year and an election will be held for one governor overseeing the live action short film award, to be elected for a term starting in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
The animation branch represents approximately 700 Academy members working across the animation industry. The branch will have two governor representatives on the board and oversee the animated feature film and animated short film awards.
The short films branch comprises more than 200 Academy members encompassing narrative and non-fiction short filmmaking.
“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.
The short subjects branch was created in 1941 and was renamed the short films branch in 1974, before it was renamed short films and feature animation branch in 1995.
The animated feature film award category was established in 2001.
Earlier this month the Academy announced it had created an annual competitive Oscar for achievement in casting, beginning with the 98th Academy Awards for films released in 2025.
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