Oscars: Lynette Howell Taylor Elected President of Film Academy
As The Hollywood Reporter recently forecasted, , an Oscar-nominated film producer, was elected the 37th president of the through a vote of the organization’s board of governors on Thursday. She succeeds , a fellow producer who held the job for the past three years, but was forced by term limits to step away from the board for at least the next two.
Howell Taylor, 46, who was born in Liverpool, England, is the youngest person in 70 years (since George Seaton took office at 44) and the first person born outside of the U.S. in 28 years (since Canadian Arthur Hiller) to serve as Academy president.
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Five other governors were also tapped for officer positions: composer Lesley Barber was re-elected as vice president (chair, membership committee); producer Jennifer Fox was elected vice president (chair, awards committee); documentarian Simon Kilmurry was elected vice president/treasurer (chair, finance committee); actor Lou Diamond Phillips was elected vice president (chair, equity and inclusion committee); and writer Howard A. Rodman was re-elected vice president/secretary (chair, governance committee).
“Lynette has been a vital part of the Academy board of governors for many years, most recently revitalizing our awards work as chair of the board’s Awards Committee,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in a statement. “I so look forward to working with her as our new Academy president, as well as with these incredibly dedicated and strategic board officers. This is an exceptional group of Academy members who will advance the Academy’s mission, support our membership around the world, ensure our long-term financial stability, and celebrate the achievements of the global filmmaking community.”
Howell Taylor began her career in the theater. Since moving to Hollywood at 22, she has accumulated dozens of film credits. Among them are acclaimed indies (such as 2006’s Half Nelson, 2010’s Blue Valentine and 2016’s Captain Fantastic) and studio films (including 2018’s A Star Is Born, for which she received a best picture Oscar nom, and The Accountant 2, a hit earlier this year).
She joined the Academy in 2014, and was recruited to produce the 2020 Oscars telecast with Stephanie Allain. She was elected to the board of governors for the first time later that same year, and has served on it for the last five years. In each of the last three years, she was chosen by the board to serve as its vice president, overseeing its powerful awards committee, which is integrally involved with the planning of all aspects of the ceremonies. And in each of those years, the telecast’s ratings have ticked up.
Howell Taylor certainly has a full plate: she and her husband, Fifth Season (formerly Endeavor Content) co-CEO Graham Taylor, are the parents of three young kids; the family recently lost its home in the Pacific Palisades wildfire; and she has a high-profile film, Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman, starring Channing Tatum, coming out later this year.
But the new president is known to be indefatigable and is already familiar with the inner workings of the Academy and the Oscars, so she is expected to be able to hit the ground running. Plus, she is only able to remain on the board and to serve as president for this coming year before running up against the same term limit as Yang.
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