Vanity Fair: When we spoke in 2022, there had been a lot of turmoil within the Academy. You must have been a little worried stepping into that spotli
Vanity Fair: When we spoke in 2022, there had been a lot of turmoil within the Academy. You must have been a little worried stepping into that spotlight as the up-to-date president.
Janet Yang: It’s something that’s always looming. But I think we were so engaged in the work. That’s one thing I think has changed: The board is so respectful of one another, and we’re able to get things done. I think before there was a little bit of this push-pull, push-pull, push—and factions. So I felt like we were working together as one, and that was really gratifying.
How tough was it to get the Oscars for casting and stunt design through?
There’s a process. We rely on committees. It’s a lot of consensus building, and it’s a lot of really hearing people’s ideas. I felt like it was essential to go to all the committee meetings, to hear who had a really robust objection and why, or who is in support. You just keep massaging the opinions until people come to a conclusion that results in a decision. But it did take a while. One of the things Bill and I learned was the speed with which you do things can’t be too brisk. They can’t be too snail-paced. You really have to find the right rhythm so people get comfortable.
Obviously those aren’t the most star-studded categories, and the show is already long. How will they figure that out?
One thing that’s well-known at this point is that we’re leading up to the 100th Oscars, and that’s when our contract with Disney ends. The awards committee and the whole board will have some really fun conversations that have already started. It’s kind of hitting a reset button, saying, “What is it going to look like after the 100th?” I can’t say too much, but the timing seems fortuitous—that all these things are happening at the same time.
Change isn’t always basic for this group. I remember the uproar over moving some of the awards off the broadcast.
Oh, believe me, there was. And I really believe that some of the outrage came from lack of communication. I think that’s something we have worked tough at: transparency, transparency, transparency. There’s just a lot of thoughtfulness about who needs to hear what first.
How did the up-to-date theatrical requirements come about?
That’s an issue that obviously has a wide range of opinions. Some people are really die-hard with “movies in theaters,” and we uphold that to some degree. But we can’t discount the fact that streamers are alive and well. Some people say it’s too little, some people say it’s too much. We do have to protect petite movies, indie movies. Those conversations took hours and hours—weeks and months just trying to find the right solution. But I think we found a good balance.
What was it like to see the scandal around Karla Sofía Gascón unfold?
The whole thing was so unpleasant, unfortunate. [There] was so much controversy. We were certainly not going to disinvite her. I felt bad for people who worked long and tough on a very good movie. I recently met with Zoe [Saldaña], and I was talking to [Netflix publicist] Lisa Taback, who was getting death threats. It was pretty wild. I felt bad for a lot of people.
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