US Briefs: Academy unveils 2016-17 board of governors

Costume designer Sharen K. Davis and documentarian Roger Ross Williams are among the new influx of governors as Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs hailed “another step towards inclusion” on Monday.

Steven Spielberg and Laura Dern are among others voted to the board for the first time, alongside Laura Karpman and Kevin Collier.

Re-elected incumbent governors are: David Rubin, John Bailey, Jan Pascale, Mark Johnson, Nancy Utley, Jon Bloom, and Robin Swicord.

Returning to the board after a hiatus are: William M. Mechanic, Leonard Engelman, and Craig Barron. A run-off election is required for the film editors branch.

The board includes the three governors-at-large appointed in January by Isaacs: Reginald Hudlin, Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Gregory Nava.

The Academy’s 17 branches are each represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms. 

• Major! by Annalise Ophelian won the 2016 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival U.S. Documentary Audience Award, while Nathan Adloff’s Miles took the U.S. Narrative Award. The festival ran from July 7-17. Click here for the full list of winners.
• The Ken Burns documentary Defying The Nazis: The Sharps’ War co-directed with Artemis Joukowsky will get a one-week Academy qualifying run on September 9 through CINEMAflix Distribution at New York City’s Cinema Village and the Music Hall in Beverly Hills. PBS will broadcast the film on September 20.
• IFC Films has acquired US rights to Justin Kelly’s Tribeca Midnight selection King Cobra starring James Franco, Christian Slater, Garrett Clayton, Keegan Allen, Alicia Silverstone and Molly Ringwald.
• FilmBuff has licensed US rights to Adam Randall’s feature debut action thriller Level Up and has set an August 26 theatrical release followed by VOD on September 26.