The consequences of Will Smith’s resignation from the Academy

It is true that it is not easy to enter it, but there are two ways: that a couple of members of the AMPAS (for its acronym) suggest someone’s name and then it is submitted to an internal vote and, second, to be nominated for the award, situation that automatically makes him a member.

AMPAS has more than 6 thousand members, mainly from the US, but also from various countries such as Mexico, South Korea, Italy and Spain.

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What would I lose?

What powers do the members of the Academy have? Basically, to have virtual access to the dozens of films that are registered annually looking for a place in the categories for the Oscar and, of course, to vote for your favorites.

With his resignation, Smith would lose both rights. Only.

Until now, there is no risk that the statuette won last Sunday will be withdrawn, unless the Academy officially sets its position on April 18 and contemplates that decision in it.

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But the most recent controversial case was that of producer Harvey Weinstein, accused of sexual abuse of actresses, winner of the 1999 Best Picture Oscar for Passionate Shakespeare, and the statuette is still in his possession.

An Oscar also has the public cost of one dollar, so if any winner wanted to sell his to get rid of any past he doesn’t want to remember, he wouldn’t become a millionaire.

what could happen

What Smith could suffer after the blow he gave Chris Rock last Sunday, after he made fun of his wife Jada Pinkett, is that producers do not call him after a silent pact towards his career.

Would anyone risk losing an actor whose movies, on average, gross five dollars for every one invested? It’s complicated.
In addition, for two decades his name has appeared in the producer credits of films such as the remake of “Karate Kid” and “King Richard”, the last film that gave him the Oscar.

As if that were not enough, seeing the trends that were coming, he hastened to solidify himself in the world of series, now having a portfolio with “Women on the movement”, “Bel-Air” and “This joka”, an area whose prizes are awarded by the television academy.

What should you watch out for?

To fight with the actors’ union, which would leave him unprotected, since no one works in the US without its endorsement. Needless to say the same with those from various areas of cinema. But the international market is still open. 15 years ago a Mexican production company contacted him for a film that he liked, but in the end the times could not be compacted, since it was a time when Smith made one film after another.

Who else has quit?

Quitting a film academy is rare, but not something Smith pioneered.

In 2000, the filmmaker Arturo Ripstein decided to do the same with the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, considering that his cinema was not valued in his native country, but it was in other places such as Spain, where he won awards. In fact, he prohibited producers from entering his films for the Ariel Award for several years.

In 2015 he agreed to receive the Ariel de Oro for his career and there was reconciliation. This year her most recent film, The Devil Between Her Legs, is looking for a place at the Ariel.

Alex de la Iglesia, the director of The Day of the Beast, resigned in 2011 from the presidency of the Spanish Academy after a government decision to go against internet downloads. The filmmaker was one of the most fervent believers that online was going to be the future of cinema and he was never consulted about it.