Academy Member Age Awards Voters Year American Movies

Once a year in February or March, you'll see on American television the Academy Awards, more popularly known as the Oscars. The Oscars are given to the best movies of each year. If you enjoy movies, you probably know about the Oscars, but do you know who actually "picks" (selects; decides) the winners?

The organization that "gives out" (presents) the awards is known as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, although it is more commonly referred to simply as "the Academy." The Academy has over 5,700 members, and each member belongs to one of 15 "branches" or groups, depending on what part of the movie business you are in, such as actors, directors, writers, and more. In order to become a member of the Academy, you have to be selected and approved by other members. You can't just "apply" (ask to join); you have to be asked first. Membership is for life; you remain a member until you die.

You will not be able to find a list of the members of the Academy anywhere. The list is secret; the Academy won't officially tell you who is a member and who votes each year for the Oscar winners. But in 2012, the Los Angeles Times newspaper investigated and found out the names of almost all of the members, about 89% of them. Here's what they found about the people who vote for the Oscar winners:

- 96% of all Academy voters are white, 2% African American, and slightly less than 2% Latino/Hispanic

- 77% are men

- All but one of the 15 branches is over 90% white (the actor's branch is 88% white)

- 50% of the members have been active in making movies in the past 2 years

- The "median" (average) age of an Academy member is 62; only 14% of the members are under the age of 50

We can compare these "statistics" (numbers; figures) to the American population, where 64% are white, 16% Latino, 13% African American, and a little over 4% Asian American. As you can guess, a little more than half of the population is female, and less than 20% over the age of 65.