Reginald Hudlin on Oscar Diversity: ‘This Is Absolutely a Priority for Us’

Reginald Hudline will produce 2016’s Oscar telecast. Hudlin and veteran producer/executive David Hill will tackle 2016’s live show come February 28, taking the reins from Craig Zadan and Neil Meron after a three-year stint. “David and I have so many of the same sensibilities… so we’re saying ‘Here are the challenges of the Oscars.’ And you can’t start solving those problems by saying ‘This is the way we’ve always done it.'” A snag for 2015’s telecast was “#OscarsSoWhite,” a social media outcry after all 20 acting categories were occupied by white stars.

Hudlin, a prominent African-American director and executive producer of the NAACP Image Awards since 2012, said the Academy didn’t take that criticism lightly. “The Academy has worked really hard in the past year to bring the largest number of members ever, and the most diverse ever,” he said. “This is absolutely a priority for us -- but it’s not just a matter of a black person, a latin person, a gay person or a woman,” Hudlin said. “When you celebrate all kinds of movies, when we embrace everything that we love even though it might not be a traditional Oscar movie, that automatically brings diversity. And that makes things more reflecting of the real audience.”