Updated 6:17 PM PT: Following the news earlier today that former 20th Century Fox Chairman Bill Mechanic resigned from the Academy’s Board of Governors, The Hollywood Reporter has gotten a copy of the resignation letter sent to AMPAS President John Bailey and the rest of the Board. It’s a harsh critique that tackles the organization’s efforts for inclusion (an industry problem in his opinion), the declining Oscar ratings (too many awards, too many indie films), recognizing non-theatrical features (Netflix), the over budget and late Academy museum and, perhaps more importantly “dedicated employees” who have left out of frustration.
Some highlights:
“I left the Board after one term, but decided to run again a couple of years ago when many of the decisions of the Board seemed to me to be reactive rather than considered. I felt I could help provide some perspective and guidance. But it’s exceedingly clear to me since returning to the Board that things have changed and there is now a fractured environment which does not allow for a unified, strategically sound, vision. I haven’t had any real impact, so now it’s time to leave. I feel I have failed the organization. I feel we have failed the organization. We have settled on numeric answers to the problem of inclusion, barely recognizing that this is the Industry’s problem far, far more than it is the Academy’s. Instead we react to pressure. One Governor even went as far as suggesting we don’t admit a single white male to the Academy, regardless of merit! We have failed to the move the Oscars into the modern age, despite decades of increased competition and declining ratings. Instead we have kept to the same number of awards, which inherently means a long and boring show, and over the past decade we have nominated so many smaller independent films that the Oscars feel like they should be handed out in a tent. Big is not inherently bad and small is not inherently good. Moving into the modern age does not mean competing with the Emmys for non-theatrical features. We have failed to solve the problems of the Museum, which is ridiculously over its initial budget and way past its original opening date. Despite having the best of the best inside the Academy membership, we have ignored the input of our Governors and our members.”
Moreover, he goes after the bylaws which have created “instability” by having the President of the Academy only in charge for a one-year term (which can go up to four years via election). In his eyes, this gives too much power to the CEO (in this case Dawn Hudson, who it should be noted, famously clashed with the last term-limited Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs). Mechanic feels most of these problems come from the “silence” of too many board members. He notes, “A vocal few people are insistent that the problems are not really problems or would be too damaging to the Academy to admit. Not facing your problems means you are not addressing those issues and, guess what, problems don’t go away — they simmer under the surface and, if anything, get worse.”
In closing, Mechanic notes, “You can’t hide the drainage of employees, the cataclysmic decline in the Oscar ratings, the fact that no popular film has won in over a decade; that we decided to play Moral Police and most probably someone inside the Academy leaked confidential information in order to compromise the President; that the Board doesn’t feel their voice is being heard with regard to the Museum; that we have allowed the Academy to be blamed for things way beyond our control and then try to do things which are not in our purview (sexual harassment, discrimination in the Industry).”
You can read the entire letter here.
Original Post: In a surprise move, Bill Mechanic revealed that he’s resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ governing body, the Board of Governors. Mechanic, a one-time Chairman of 20th Century Fox, is a film producer who most recently earned a Best Picture nomination for Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge.”
In a statement to Variety, who broke the story, the AMPAS remarked, “The Academy thanks William Mechanic for his five years of service on the Board of Governors, where he represented the members of the Executives Branch.”
That’s a pretty cold response for a member who is a former nominee and co-produced the 2010 Academy Awards with Adam Shankman. That being said, his recent criticism over the organization establishing a code of conduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement might have something to do with it. In a Vanity Fair feature earlier this year he had some blunt remarks over how the Academy was handling the situation.
“I’m not as in favor of this as everybody else,” Mechanic said.. “The whole industry is a bit on fire.”
He continued, “It’s an industry that was the opposite six months ago…This should be left to the companies people work for and to the police. Six months ago, all the moral police were silent. Was it wrong for people to be silent six months ago? Yes. Is it wrong to go overboard now? Yes. What you want is rationality to the process.”
Mechanic did add he’d fired people over the course of 34-year career for sexual harassment. And, before you insinuate too much from his association with “Hacksaw” director Gibson you should be aware he oversaw one of the most daring eras in 20th Century Fox where films such as “Bullworth,” “The Object of My Affection” (an incredibly rare gay-themed drama), Baz Luhrman’s “Romeo + Juliet,” “Waiting to Exhale” (a rare African-American wide release drama), the genre-pushing first “X-Men” as well as the formation of Fox Searchlight.
According to Deadline, Mechanic sent a letter to the board over his concerns on the conduct decisions as well as his dismay that members of the organization leaked the investigation of AMPAS president John Bailey to the press. An investigation that was determined to be without merit, but had still resulted in national headlines and chatter all over town.
It’s unclear who will replace Mechanic in representing the Executive branch at this time, but his exit demonstrates there are still those in the Academy who have serious concerns about the changes the organization has made over the past six months.
