Jason Blum, Brie Larson and John Ridley Among Academy Board Finalists (Exclusive)

Some added star power may be coming to the Academy’s board of governors.

Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson (Room) and screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave), Oscar-nominated actress Meg Ryan, Get Out producer Jason Blum, Sony Classics co-chief Michael Barker, DreamWorks Animation producer Bonnie Arnold, former Academy president Sid Ganis (who left the board after his presidency came to an end in 2009) and the producers of the last two Oscars telecasts, Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, are among the finalists for open seats as the Academy conducts its annual board elections, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The Academy’s board — which is, in a sense, Hollywood’s student council — comprises 54 governors, with three governors representing each of the organization’s 17 branches. One seat representing each branch comes up for election every three years. An additional three governors-at-large are appointed by the president to represent the interests of diversity.

Members are elected to three-year terms and can serve no more than three terms in a row before being required to take a year off. Three governors “terming out” this cycle after nine consecutive years of service are the actors branch’s Tom Hanks, the designers branch’s Jim Bissell and the short films and feature animation branch’s Bill Kroyer.

There are also some noteworthy absences among the finalists.

Three veteran, high-powered incumbent board members elected to not seek re-election: the producers branch’s Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg’s longtime producer who now serves as the chief of Lucasfilm; the public relations branch’s Marvin Levy, Spielberg’s personal publicist for decades; and the directors branch’s Michael Mann, a four-time Oscar nominee.

The first round of voting, which yielded these finalists, spanned May 14-18. The final round of voting, which will determine the winners, will take place Monday-June 8. The results will become known in July.

Several other Hollywood notables threw their hat into the ring in the initial round but did not make their branch’s list of finalists, including Pixar and Disney Animation president Ed Catmull; producers Cassian Elwes, Mace Neufeld and Irwin Winkler; Oscar-nominated actors Piper Laurie and Jacki Weaver; executives Mark Canton and Cary Brokaw; public relations specialists Megan Colligan, Leslee Dart and Bruce Feldman; Oscar-nominated sound technicians Peter Kurland, Michael Minkler and Greg P. Russell; and writers Roger Avary and Stephen Gaghan.

What follows is a list of each branch’s finalists. (For branches that fielded fewer than four candidates, all candidates advanced to the next found.)

Actors

Brie Larson
Alfred Molina
Lou Diamond Phillips
Meg Ryan

Casting Directors

Kerry Barden
Ilene Starger
Bernard Telsey [incumbent]

Cinematographers

Michael Goi
Guillermo Navarro
Daryn Okada [incumbent]
Newton Thomas Sigel

Costume Designers

Marie France
Jeffrey Kurland
Deborah Nadoolman Landis [incumbent]

Designers

Tom Duffield
Marcia Hinds
Geoffrey A. Kirkland
Melissa Stewart

Directors

Haiffa Al-Mansour
John Badham
Susanne Bier
Shawn Levy

Documentary

John Battsek
Kate Davis
Karen Goodman
Rory Kennedy [incumbent]

Executives

Pam Abdy
Michael W. Barker
Jim Gianopulos [incumbent; also the sitting treasurer]
Mike Medavoy

Film Editors

Maryann Brandon
Dody J. Dorn
Carol Littleton [incumbent]
Mary Sweeney

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists

Michele Burke
Lois Burwell [incumbent; also the sitting first vice president]
Bill Corso
Ve Neill

Music

Alan Bergman
Charles Fox
Lisa Gerrard
Michael Giacchino [incumbent]

Producers

Jason Blum
Michael De Luca
Jennifer Todd
Janet Yang

Public Relations

Tony Angellotti
Terry Curtin
Rob Friedman
Sid Ganis

Short Films and Feature Animation

Bonnie Arnold
Brenda Chapman
Bob Kurtz
Marlon West

Sound

Gary C. Bourgeois
Christopher D. Jenkins
Scott Millan [incumbent]
Kevin O’Connell

VFX

John Knoll [incumbent]
Robert Legato
Theresa Ellis Rygiel
Bill Taylor

Writers

Amy Holden Jones
Billy Ray [incumbent]
John Ridley
Dana Stevens