Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Boone Isaacs in 2015 at the announcement of nominees for the 87th Academy Awards

Boone Isaacs in 2015 at the announcement of nominees for the 87th Academy Awards
Born Cheryl Boone
1949 (age 66–67)
Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
Education Whittier College
Occupation Film marketing, public relations
Years active 1977-present
Organization Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Known for AMPAS President
Home town Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
Title President, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Term 2 years
Predecessor Hawk Koch
Spouse(s) Stanley Isaacs
Children 1

Cheryl Boone Isaacs (born 1949) is an American film marketing and public relations executive. She has represented the Public Relations Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), known for its annual Academy Awards (Oscars), on the AMPAS Board of Governors for 21 years as of 2013. On July 30, 2013 she was elected as the 35th president of AMPAS.[1] Boone Isaacs is the first African American to hold this office, and the third woman (after Bette Davis and Fay Kanin).[2][3]

Early life

Boone Isaacs was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to father, postal worker Ashley Boone, Sr., and a homemaker mother.[4][5] Her family was middle class[6]:199 and she grew up near Springfield College until her family moved to the Sixteen Acres neighborhood of Springfield.[7] She is the youngest of four children, two older brothers and an older sister.[8]

In 1967, Boone Isaacs graduated from Springfield Central High School, known at that time as Classical High School.[9] In 1971, she graduated from Whittier College with a degree in political science.[10] During college she spent time in a study abroad program in Copenhagen, Denmark.[11]

Career

Cheryl Boone Isaacs at the Miami Film Festival

After college, Boone Isaacs worked as a flight attendant for Pan Am based out of San Francisco.[12] At the age of 25, she ended up following her older brother Ashley Boone, Jr.[5] who worked as an executive, to Hollywood.[13]

Publicity work

In 1977, Boone Isaacs began working in publicity at Columbia Pictures. Her first job was publicizing the Steven Spielberg film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[6]:198

She then worked at Milton Goldstein's Melvin Simon Productions, working on publicity for The Stunt Man, Love at First Bite, and Porkys, eventually becoming Vice President, Worldwide Advertising and Publicity. Boone Isaacs was then Director of Advertising and Publicity for The Ladd Company and worked to promote films like The Right Stuff and Once Upon a Time in America.

In 1984, she was Director, Publicity and Promotion, West Coast, eventually becoming the worldwide publicity director for Paramount Pictures, a position she held until 1997.[8] As Paramount's Executive Vice President of Worldwide Publicity, she orchestrated the marketing campaigns for Best Picture winners Forrest Gump and Braveheart. While at Paramount, she worked with an unusually large team of women at Paramount at that time, which included Dawn Steel, who was president of Production, as well as other women like Deborah Rosen, Lucie Salhany, Buffy Shutt, as well as Sherry Lansing. She was at Paramount for 13 years.[6]:200

From 1997 to 1999, she was President of Theatrical Marketing for New Line Cinema, where she promoted Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Wedding Singer, and Boogie Nights.[1] In this position, she was the first black woman to head a studio marketing department.[14]

Boone Isaacs started her own company, called CBI Enterprises, Inc., where she has worked on publicity for films that have included Best Picture winners The King's Speech and The Artist.[1]

Academy work

Boone Isaacs has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1987. All work for the Academy, even leadership roles, is on a volunteer basis.[15]

As President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Boone Isaacs was instrumental in removing the restriction of the number of members allowed into the Academy, what had been a long-time membership cap. She also initiated a drive to invite over 400 new members, many of whom were young and came from diverse backgrounds.[8]

Boone Isaacs has been an active force in addressing the lack of diversity,[16][17] and an imbalance of membership that is predominantly white and male.[8][18] Other efforts that she is addressing is focusing on improving AMPAS mentorship programs, enhancing the student version of the Academy Awards and improving the scientific and technical council.[12]

Part of her duties as President is to oversee the Academy Awards. Boone Isaacs also oversees the Governors Awards, where honorary lifetime achievement awards are given. Unlike the Oscars, the Governors Awards are not televised ceremonies.[15] She has also spearheaded the development of an AMPAS museum developed in conjunction with Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art[11] that has a budget of $300 million, and is scheduled to open in 2017.[15][19]

At the 2015 Governors Awards, Boone Isaacs launched a new Academy initiative called A2020, which will focus on improving representation of diversity -- age, gender, race, national origin, point-of-view -- and will include a five year plan to focus on industry practices and hiring.[20] Honorary Oscar winner Spike Lee praised Boone Isaacs for her work towards diversity in Hollywood.[21]

Honors

Personal life

Boone Isaacs is married to film producer, director and writer Stanley Isaacs and lives in Los Angeles.[27][28] They have a son, Cooper Boone Isaacs.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Melidonian, Teni (30 July 2013). "Cheryl Boone Isaacs Elected Academy President". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Gold Derby News Desk (31 July 2013). "Cheryl Boone Isaacs elected first African-American head of Oscars". Gold Derby. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  3. ↑ Kilday, Gregg (31 July 2013). "New Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs on Her Historic Election, the Oscars and Her Top Priorities (Q&A)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Boone, Ashley A., Jr. (1938-1994)". Black Past. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 Saxon, Wolfgang (4 May 1994). "Ashley Boone Jr., Marketing Executive For Films, Dies at 55". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Gregory, Mollie (2003). Women Who Run the Show: How a Brilliant and Creative New Generation of Women Stormed Hollywood (St. Martin's Griffin ed.). New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-31634-1. OCLC 56700429. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Kelly, Ray (19 February 2014). "Academy Awards president Cheryl Boone Isaacs reflects on growing up in Springfield, Oscar race". MassLive. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 del Barco, Mandalit (27 February 2014). "New Academy President Pushes For More Diverse Voting Members". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  9. ↑ Kelly, Ray (31 July 2013). "Springfield's Cheryl Boone Isaacs elected president of Academy Awards board". MassLive. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "A Conversation With Cheryl Boone Isaacs '71, President of AMPAS". Whittier College. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 Cole, Yoji (23 June 2014). "Cheryl Boone Isaacs: Front Row Center". CSQ: C-Suite Quarterly Entertainment. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Herndon, Jessica (26 February 2014). "Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs Adjusts To Her Influence". Huffington Post. The Associated Press. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Boone Isaacs, Cheryl (9 May 2015). "Happiness Is a Goal of Life". Medium. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Excerpt of commencement speech given at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts on May 9, 2015
  14. ↑ TheGrio (31 January 2014). "theGrio's 100: Cheryl Boone Isaacs, new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president". theGrio. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  15. 1 2 3 Sperling, Nicole (1 August 2013). "Cheryl Boone Isaacs is ready for the spotlight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Warner, Kara (15 January 2015). "Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs on Selma Snubs, Lack of Diversity". Vulture. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  17. ↑ Hyo-won, Lee (6 October 2015). "Busan: Cheryl Boone Isaacs on the Rise of Asian Cinema and Promoting Diversity in the Academy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Ryzik, Melena (20 February 2012). "Inside the Academy, Where White Men Are the Clear Majority". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  19. ↑ Cieply, Michael (26 May 2015). "Motion Picture Academy Contemplates Changes". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  20. ↑ Kilday, Gregg (14 November 2015). "Spike Lee: Getting a Black President Is Easier Than a Black Studio Head". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  21. ↑ Barker, Andrew (13 November 2015). "Spike Lee Is Still Speaking Truth to Power". Variety. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  22. ↑ "BESLA Celebrates Cheryl Boone Isaacs, New President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Black Entertainment Sports Lawyers Association. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  23. ↑ "African American Film Critics Association Celebrates 5th Annual Dinner Ceremony with 2014 Special Achievement Award Honorees". African American Film Critics Association. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  24. ↑ Khatchatourian, Maane (30 January 2014). "Paris Barclay, Cheryl Boone Isaacs to Be Inducted into NAACP Hall of Fame". Variety. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  25. ↑ Kilday, Gregg (28 February 2014). "Academy Chief on Woody Allen's Scandal, Host Ellen DeGeneres and the Diversity of This Year's Nominees (Q&A)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  26. ↑ Press Release (27 August 2014). "Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs Named Filmmaker-in-Residence at Chapman University". Indiewire. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  27. ↑ "Stanley Isaacs, CEO, 100% Entertainment, Inc. - Producer, Director, Writer: Biography". 100% Entertainment. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  28. ↑ "Stanley Isaacs – Producer, Director and Writer". The Magic of Books. Retrieved 15 November 2015.

Further reading

External links

Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
Hawk Koch		 President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
2013–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.