The ongoing period of contraction across Hollywood is now impacting the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
On Oct. 30, the organization behind the Oscars and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures laid off two percent of its workforce — 16 of roughly 800 employees, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The move was made as part of a larger restructuring that has been underway for the past 18 months and was described in May as “an organization-wide effort to unite teams.”
All employees impacted this week worked within the Academy’s collecting and preservations departments. The most prominent among them were Mike Pogorzelski, director of the Academy Film Archive, and Anne Coco, associate director of the Graphic Arts Collection of the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library. Both are highly-regarded experts who had been with the organization for years.
An Academy spokesperson declined to discuss personnel matters. But there was said to be a sense within the organization that certain jobs spread between its archive and library had become duplicative. Additionally, the Academy is seeking to tighten its belt ahead of the 100th Oscars in 2028, after which its Oscars broadcasting deal with ABC — its principal source of revenue — will expire, and a new broadcasting deal, likely to be smaller due to generally declining ratings for all awards telecasts, will be sought.
However, the Academy’s collecting and preservations efforts are continuing full-speed-ahead, as demonstrated by a press release issued this morning announcing new acquisitions. Among them: the Studio Ghibli animation collection, featuring drawings by Hayao Miyazaki; Quentin Tarantino’s original handwritten script draft for Pulp Fiction; objects from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022); costumes worn by Jamie Lee Curtis, Kurt Russell, Meryl Streep and Joanne Woodward; and personal collections of Curtis Hanson, Barbara Kopple, Ve Neill, Oliver Stone and Paul Verhoeven.
Below is an email from Academy CEO Bill Kramer to Academy employees that THR has obtained.
Dear Academy Team,
As you know, we have been focused over the last two years on strategic structural changes at the Academy. We are working hard to bring teams together that share roles and responsibilities — and with this we have some colleagues who have left the organization while others have moved into new roles. While these moments can be challenging, they are designed to align our operations by combining functions with shared purposes and priorities.
As part of our efforts to bring all of our collecting and preservation departments together — the archive, the library, and the collecting unit of the museum — we have spent the last several months assessing the structure of these teams. As part of this work in building the new Academy Collection and Preservation Department, some team members will be leaving the Academy this week.
All impacted employees have been alerted to these changes — and while this effects less than 2% of our overall workforce, we know that having to say goodbye to colleagues is incredibly hard. We are deeply committed to providing support for those leaving and are finalizing a new reporting structure that we will share soon.
The Academy is part of two worlds that are rapidly evolving — the film industry and the non-profit arts community. We are working hard to stay focused on our mission while addressing this pivotal moment. And while we know how difficult these moments can be, we are confident in our steps to shape a sustainable organization that is well-suited to meet our goals now and in the future.
We are deeply grateful for your work and support. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Bill
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