The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has added a new branch, the Production and Technology Branch, AMPAS announced Friday afternoon.
The Production and Technology Branch will be the first new branch added to the Academy since the Casting Directors Branch was created in 2013. It will bring the total number of AMPAS branches to 18.
While the other 17 branches of the Academy are each represented by three members on the Academy’s Board of Governors, the Manufacturing and Technology Branch will initially be represented by a single governor, bringing the total number of governors to 55.
While the conversation in recent years has turned to creating a new Oscar for casting, which has its own branch, and stuntmen, which doesn’t, the Production and Technology Branch was created to broaden the discussion of the board on a changing industry.
Its members, according to the Academy’s press release, will include “chief technology officers, senior department heads in technology and creative services, and conservation and restoration specialists. In addition, accredited production roles, including stunt coordinators, script supervisors, choreographers, music supervisors, colorists, line producers, and associate producers, will be part of the branch.”
The first governor of the new branch will be chosen during board elections this summer.