Guillermo del Toro, Kris Bowers Elected to Academy Board of Governors

Guillermo del Toro, Kris Bowers and Fred Berger are among the film professionals who have been elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy announced on Monday morning.

Director del Toro, composer Bowers and producer Berger are among the nine people elected to the board for the first time. Del Toro will represent the Directors Branch, Bowers the Music Branch and Berger the Producers Branch. Other first-time governors will be Michael Goi, Cinematographers Branch; Anne Goursaud, Film Editors Branch; Patricia Dehaney, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch; Vic Armstrong, Production and Technology Branch; David Leitch, Production and Technology Branch; and Kim Magnusson, Short Films Branch.

Another nine governors were re-elected to the board. Those are Lou Diamond Phillips, Actors Branch; Jinko Gotoh, Animation Branch; Daniel Orlandi, Costume Designers Branch; Hannah Minghella, Executives Branch; David Dinerstein, Marketing and Public Relations Branch; Wendy Aylsworth, Production and Technology Branch; Kalina Ivanov, Production Design Branch; Mark P. Stoeckinger, Sound Branch; Dana Stevens, Writers Branch.

In addition five governors returned to the board after a hiatus. Those are Bonnie Arnold, Animation Branch; Bernard Telsey, Casting Directors Branch; Roger Ross Williams, Documentary Branch; Bob Rogers, Short Films Branch; Paul Debevec, Visual Effects Branch.

Several of the new and returning governors are replacing board members who were ineligible to remain on the board because of term limits restricting a governor to two consecutive three-year terms, after which they must take a mandatory two-year hiatus. (After the hiatus, they can serve two additional terms, with a lifetime limit of 12 years on the board.)

Governors who termed off the board this year are casting director Debra Zane, director Ava DuVernay, film editor Stephen Rivkin, makeup artist Linda Flowers, and visual effects artist Rob Bredow.

Academy President Lynette Howell-Taylor has also reached the end of her second consecutive term and can no longer serve as a representative of the Producers Branch. Under old rules, that would render her ineligible to be re-elected president for a second term — but an amendment passed earlier this year allows the AMPAS president to remain in office for four one-year terms as an ex officio governor.

Only one of the last six Academy presidents has been able to serve all four terms, with the other five all forced out of office because of term limits. Howell-Taylor will be the first president able to take advantage of the revised bylaws.

The election expands the size of the board to 57 elected members, three from each branch, plus three at-large members appointed by the Academy president. Previously, the Short Films, Animation and Production and Technology Branches had fewer members.

Governors returning to the board and not up for re-election are Pam Abdy, Haifaa al-Mansour, Lesley Barber, K.K. Barrett, Dion Beebe, Jason Blum, Brooke Breton, Effie T. Brown, Carter Burwell, Paul Cameron, Patricia Cardoso, Eduardo Castro, Annie Chang, Peter Devlin, Jennifer Fox, Chris Hegedus, Richard Hicks, Larry Karaszewski, Laura C. Kim, Christina Kounelias, Peter Kujawski, Marlee Matlin, Isis Mussenden, Andy Nelson, Missy Parker, Gerald Quist, Jason Reitman, Nancy Richardson, Andrew Roberts, Howard A. Rodman, Terilyn A. Shropshire, Chris Tashima, Kim Taylor-Coleman, Jean Tsien, Marlon West, Gigi Williams and Rita Wilson.

Board members are allowed to serve two consecutive three-year terms before they must take a two-year hiatus. After the hiatus, they are permitted to serve two additional terms for a lifetime maximum of 12 years on the board. The terms in each branch are staggered so that one seat in each branch is up for election each year.

The 2026-2027 board will consist of 27 women and 30 men, a flip from the past year’s ratio of 30 women and 25 men. If Lynette Howell Taylor is re-elected president at the next board meeting, the size of the board will expand from 60 to 61 as she becomes an ex officio governor.