The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences got down to business on Tuesday, setting its agenda for the next year in an all-hands meeting with its membership. The official purpose, as noted in the annual virtual meeting’s invite, was to educate roughly 11,000 members “about the Academy’s leadership structure, budget, goals and priorities.” The hourlong huddle was led by Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor and CEO Bill Kramer, Variety can report. It addressed the Academy’s $187 million budget for 2027, conversations surrounding AI and plans for the Oscars to hopefully reach “2 billion people” when the show begins airing on YouTube in 2029.
Here are some key takeaways from the call. The academy has set a budget of $187 million for the time period running July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. Awards expenses — including the production of the Oscars show, the nominees luncheon and dinners and more — account for 23% of the budget.
Five % goes to bond repayment, with Academy programs and operations accounting for 12%. Foundation operations account for 19%, including museum exhibitions and screenings, education and talent development programs and the Academy collection. Personnel expenses across programs account for 41%.
You hear us say this every year,” Kramer said. Now, thanks to our ongoing and very successful focus on revenue diversification, we are seeing greatly increased support from individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors, and from our museum gala and strong museum and event ticket sales.” In the two years since launching the Academy 100 Revenue Diversification Campaign, $308 million has been raised toward the goal of raising $500 million by the end of 2028. Major donors to the campaign include Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBCUniversal and Apple.
Luxury fashion and jewelry houses Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani and Tiffany & Co have all come on board, too. While summarizing the Oscars’ move from ABC to YouTube starting in 2029, Howell was hopeful that the ceremony has the potential to reach up to 2 billion people worldwide. A new deal with AEG means the Oscars will relocate from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood to the much larger Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
The Peacock’s capacity tops out at 7,000 seats as opposed to the Dolby with just 3,400. Howell touched on AI, promising members that the Academy is and will continue to be fully engaged on issues surrounding AI and new technologies. We are actively participating in conversations across our industry about how these rapidly evolving technologies are being used and developed.
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