Below is the official press release from the Academy announcing 176 individuals who have now been invited to the Academy. Unlike past years, the number of questionable selections is minimized, though I wonder why the heavy admission of actors who are primarily working in television (Simon Baker, Margo Martinda and S. Epatha Merkerson do work in film, but not as much as they seem to work on TV, though the latter two are excellent choices regardless).

What’s surprising when you come across a name that should have been admitted years ago but wasn’t such as Tom Berenger, Janet McTeer, Lili Taylor and Michelle Yeoh among the actors; Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Kasi Lemmons, Terrence Malick and Wong Kar Wai among directors; Ryuichi Sakamoto in music; Greg Butler in Visual Effects; or Grant Heslov among writers. These seem like fairly obvious names since Berenger, McTeer, Malick, Sakamoto, Heslov and Butler were all Oscar nominees and/or winners in the past. A few like the Dardennes, Malick and Wong were likely invited previously but turned the Academy down. These lists are intended more towards shaming those who don’t join into doing so in a somewhat public way, although we won’t know until a future list if any of them said no.

So, here is the list with the press release.

Academy Invites 176 to Membership

Beverly Hills, CA (June 29, 2012) – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 176 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2012 to the Academy’s roster of members.

“These film professionals represent some of the most talented, most passionate contributors to our industry,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “I’m glad to recognize that by calling each of them a fellow Academy member.”

Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.

The 2012 invitees are:

Actors
Simon Baker – “Margin Call,” “L.A. Confidential”
Sean Bean – “Flightplan,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”
Bérénice Bejo – “The Artist,” “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”
Tom Berenger – “Inception,” “Platoon”
Demián Bichir – “A Better Life,” “Che”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help,” “The Tree of Life”
Clifton Collins, Jr. – “Star Trek,” “Traffic”
Bryan Cranston – “Contagion,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Jean Dujardin – “Les infidèls, “The Artist”
Richard E. Grant – “The Iron Lady,” “Withnail & I”
Jonah Hill – “Moneyball,” “Superbad”
Ken Howard – “J. Edgar,” “In Her Shoes”
Diego Luna – “Milk,” “Y Tu Mamá También”
Margo Martindale – “Secretariat,” “Million Dollar Baby”
Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids,” “The Back-Up Plan”
Matthew McConaughey – “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “A Time to Kill”
Janet McTeer – “Albert Nobbs,” “Tumbleweeds”
S. Epatha Merkerson – “Mother and Child,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”
Sam Rockwell – “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Moon”
Andy Serkis – “The Prestige,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
Octavia Spencer – “The Help,” “The Soloist”
Lili Taylor – “Being Flynn,” “High Fidelity”
Nia Vardalos – “For a Good Time, Call…,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”
Kerry Washington – “Django Unchained,” “Ray”
Michelle Yeoh – “The Lady,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”

Designers
Laurence Bennett – “The Artist,” “Crash”
David Brisbin – “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” “Dead Presidents”
Scott Chambliss – “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Mission: Impossible III”
Wendy Chuck – “The Descendants,” “Sideways”
Maria Djurkovic – “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Hours”
Sanja Milkovic Hays – “Battle: Los Angeles,” “Mission to Mars”
Mayes Rubeo – “Avatar,” “Apocalypto”
Anne Seibel – “Midnight in Paris,” “The Devil Wears Prada”
Sharon Seymour – “The Ides of March,” “Friday Night Lights”
Sammy Sheldon – “X-Men: First Class,” “V for Vendetta”

Cinematographers
Florian Ballhaus – “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” “The Devil Wears Prada”
Oliver Bokelberg – “Win Win,” “The Station Agent”
Anna J. Foerster – “Anonymous”
Larry Fong – “Super 8,” “300”
Alwin Kuchler – “Hanna,” “Proof”
Toyomichi Kurita – “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family,” “Waiting to Exhale”
George Mooradian – “Crazy as Hell,” “Nemesis”
Guillaume Schiffman – “The Artist,” “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”
Terry Stacey – “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” “Friends with Money”

Directors
Joseph Cedar – “Footnote (Hearat Shulayim),” “Beaufort”
Jean-Pierre Dardenne – “The Kid with a Bike (Le gamin au vélo),” “The Child (L’enfant)”
Luc Dardenne – “Lorna’s Silence (Le silence de Lorna),” “The Son (Le fils)”
Philippe Falardeau – “Monsieur Lazhar,” “It’s Not Me, I Swear! (C’est pas moi, je le jure!)”
Asghar Farhadi* – “A Separation (Jodaieye Nadar az Simin),” “About Elly (Darbareye Elly) (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Rodrigo Garcia – “Albert Nobbs,” “Mother and Child”
Michel Hazanavicius* – “Les infidèles (The Players),” “The Artist” (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Kasi Lemmons – “Talk to Me,” “Eve’s Bayou”
Terrence Malick – “The Tree of Life,” “The Thin Red Line”
Michaël R. Roskam – “Bullhead (Rundskop)”
Wong Kar Wai – “My Blueberry Nights,” “In the Mood for Love”

Documentary
John Battsek – “The Tillman Story,” “One Day in September”
Amy Berg – “Bhutto,” “Deliver Us from Evil”
Simon Chinn – “Project Nim,” “Man on Wire”
Marshall Curry – “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,” “Street Fight”
Johanna Demetrakas – “Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche,” “Bus Riders Union”
Daniel Junge – “Saving Face,” “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
Mary Lampson – “Kimjongilia,” “Harlan County, USA”
Sam Pollard – “Gerrymandering,” “4 Little Girls”
Glenn Silber – “El Salvador: Another Vietnam,” “The War at Home”
Lucy Walker – “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” “Waste Land”

Executives
James Amos
Michael Bostick
Richard Brener
Howard Mark Cohen
David C. Glasser
Jeffrey B. Goldstein
Frederick Huntsberry
Jon Jashni
Michael Marshall
Tony Safford
Gregory Silverman
Nigel Sinclair

Film Editors
Kirk Baxter – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Social Network”
Nicolas De Toth – “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “The Sum of All Fears”
Scott Hill – “Zookeeper,” “Bruce Almighty”
Dan Lebental – “Iron Man 2,” “Elf”
Glen Scantlebury – “Transformers,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Mark Coulier – “The Iron Lady,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Linda Flowers – “The Hunger Games,” “The Social Network”
Toni G – “Salt,” “Monster”
Amanda Knight – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” “Mission: Impossible”
Tami Lane – “Superman Returns” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”

Members-at-Large
Wendy Aylsworth
Kyle Cooper
Patrick Crowley
Bud Davis
Chris deFaria
Sarah Katzman
John Kilkenny
Heidi Levitt
Kerry Lyn McKissick
Elizabeth Sayre
Michael Tadross
Mary Vernieu

Music
Ludovic Bource – “The Artist,” “OSS 117: Lost In Rio”
Alberto Iglesias – “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Constant Gardener”
Conrad Pope – “My Week with Marilyn,” “The Rising Place”
Ryuichi Sakamoto – “Love Is the Devil,” “The Last Emperor”
Theodore Shapiro – “The Big Year,” “I Love You, Man”

Producers
Letty Aronson – “Midnight in Paris,” “Match Point”
Michael Barnathan – “The Help,” “Rent”
Jean Bréhat – “London River,” “Days of Glory (Indigènes)”
Susan Cartsonis – “Beastly,” “What Women Want”
Tracey Edmonds – “Jumping the Broom,” “Soul Food”
Dede Gardner – “The Tree of Life,” “Running with Scissors”
Grant Heslov* – “The Ides of March,” “Good Night, and Good Luck.” (also invited to the Writers Branch)
Thomas Langmann – “The Artist,” “Mesrine: Public Enemy #1”
William Packer – “Think Like a Man,” “This Christmas”
Aaron Ryder – “The Raven,” “The Prestige”
Peter Saraf – “Our Idiot Brother,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Mary Jane Skalski – “Win Win,” “The Station Agent”

Public Relations
Larry Baldauf
Cindi Berger
Matthew P. Brubaker
Brian Daly
Rebecca Kearey
Adam Keen
Katie Martin Kelley
Eric Kops
Derek McLay
Michelle Sewell
Mark Woollen

Short Films and Feature Animation
Paul Cichocki – “Brave,” “WALL-E”
Eric Daniels – “Tangled,” “Meet the Robinsons”
Amanda Forbis – “Wild Life,” “When the Day Breaks”
Emily Hubley – “The Toe Tactic,” “Pigeon Within”
William Joyce – “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” “Meet the Robinsons”
Marv Newland – “CMYK,” “Tête à Tête à Tête”
Floyd Norman – “Waking Sleeping Beauty,” “Mulan”
Jonas Rivera – “Up,” “Cars”
Michelle Steffes – “The Interview,” “Day Labor”
David Verrall – “Dimanche/Sunday,” “Madame Tutli-Putli”
Jennifer Yuh Nelson – “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “Madagascar”

Sound
Erik Aadahl – “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Monsters vs Aliens”
Deb Adair – “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” “Moneyball”
Stephen M. Bartkowicz – “Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds,” “Red State”
John T. Cucci – “Snow White & the Huntsman,” “Prometheus”
Chuck Garsha – “Misery,” “Die Hard”
Mildred Iatrou – “The Green Hornet,” “The Tree of Life”
Tim LeBlanc – “For Greater Glory,” “Something Borrowed”
Bo Persson – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “Fanny & Alexander”
Gary L.G. Simpson – “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “The Bourne Ultimatum”
Philip Stockton – “Hugo,” “Brokeback Mountain”

Visual Effects
Scott Benza – “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Iron Man”
Greg Butler – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
Sheena Duggal – “The Hunger Games,” “Spider-Man 3”
Christopher Evans – “Hugo,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ben Grossmann – “Hugo,” “The Italian Job”
Dan Lemmon – “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “King Kong”
John Rosengrant – “Real Steel,” “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
Eric Saindon – “Avatar,” “X-Men The Last Stand”
R. Christopher White – “The Lovely Bones,” “Jurassic Park III”
Guy Williams – “Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Avatar”
Joss Williams – “Hugo,” “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Writers
J.C. Chandor – “Margin Call”
Asghar Farhadi* – “A Separation (Jodaieye Nadar az Simin),” “Beautiful City (Shahr-e ziba)” (also invited to the Directors Branch)
Michel Hazanavicius* – “The Artist,” “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” (also invited to the Directors Branch)
Grant Heslov* – “The Ides of March,” “Good Night, and Good Luck.” (also invited to the Producers Branch)
Stephen King – “Pet Sematary,” “Creepshow”
Oren Moverman – “The Messenger,” “I’m Not There”
Annie Mumolo – “Bridesmaids”
Nicholas Stoller – “The Muppets,” “Get Him to the Greek”
Peter Straughan – “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Men Who Stare at Goats”
Kristen Wiig – “Bridesmaids”

Additionally, the Academy invited Fritz Gabriel Bauer, Lee S. Berger, Ronald Bernstein, Ariel Emanuel, Jean-Marie Lavalou, Bryan Lourd, Dale Oliver, Jeremy Plager, John B. Quinn and Steve Weinstein to Associate membership. Associate members are not represented on the Board and do not have Academy Awards® voting privileges.

Three individuals (noted above by an asterisk) have been invited to join the Academy by multiple branches. These individuals must select one branch upon accepting membership.

New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception in September.

The Academy’s Board of Governors also approved a recommendation from the Art Directors Branch; moving forward, the branch will be known as the Designers Branch. The branch includes production designers, art directors, set decorators and costume designers.

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ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.