Cheryl Boone Isaacs
Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs discusses Oscar Nominations
The 86th Academy Awards is quickly becoming the buzz after what has been called a great year in films. With a diversity of both selections from 12 Years a Slave to Wolf of Wall Street, the latter of which was considered a ‘Comedy’ by the Golden Globes. The Academy is notoriously known for not nominating comedies as much as dramatic roles, for which 12 Years A Slave gave a number of tremendous dramatic roles, so there was diversity among the movies, not to mention sci-fiesque Gravity and what’s been called “12 Years A Slave for white women” August Osage Co. Not to mention this years show is hosted by Ellen Degeneres who represents diversity from a lot of different ways. but the other real story is that this year, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science is Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Only the 3rd woman chosen by the Academy in it’s 86 years of existence and the first black. So it was with great pleasure to catch up with the President, Ms. Cheryl Boone Isaacs to talk about the Academy of Motion Pictures and what her initiatives as president will be.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs
Cheryl Boone Isaacs is an American film marketing executive. She has represented the Public Relations Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), known for its annual Academy Awards (Oscars), on the AMPAS Board of Governors for a total of 21 years as of 2013. On July 30, 2013 she was elected as the 35th president of AMPAS; she is the first African American to hold this office, and the third woman (after Bette Davis and Fay Kanin).
The youngest of four children, she was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1949, attending Classical High School there. After graduating from Whittier College in 1971 with a degree in political science, she worked as a flight attendant for Pan Am Airways. After following her brother Ashley Boone to Hollywood, she became the worldwide publicity director for Paramount Pictures in 1984.
As Paramount’s executive vice president of worldwide publicity, she orchestrated the marketing campaigns for Best Picture winners Forrest Gump and Braveheart; she later served as president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema. She currently heads CBI Enterprises, Inc.; in that role she has consulted on several films, including Best Picture winners The King’s Speech and The Artist.
In 2014, Isaacs was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.
