Oscars To Introduce New Academy Award Category For Casting Directors

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Board of Governors introduced a new Oscar category for exceptional casting.

The 98th annual ceremony will honour films released in 2025.

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New Delhi: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) board of governors has announced that the Oscars will now include a new category honouring the accomplishments in cinema casting. With the 98th Academy Awards, which will recognise films produced in 2025, the Academy Award for Achievement in Casting will be added to the list of honours. 

In 2026, the first Academy Award will be presented in the newly created category.

Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy, and Janet Yang, President, issued a joint statement congratulating the members of the Casting Directors Branch on reaching this noteworthy milestone and praising their dedication and hard work over the whole application process.

The statement reads: "Casting directors play an essential role in filmmaking, and as the Academy evolves, we are proud to add casting to the disciplines that we recognize and celebrate. We congratulate our Casting Directors Branch members on this exciting milestone and for their commitment and diligence throughout this process."

Members of the Academy Casting Director Branch, including Richard Hicks, Kim Taylor-Colman, and Debra Zane, released a joint statement expressing their gratitude to the Board of Governors, the Awards Committee, and Academy leadership for their support. 

They said, "On behalf of the members of the Casting Directors Branch, we’d like to thank the Board of Governors, the Awards Committee, and Academy leadership for their support. This award is a deserved acknowledgment of our casting directors’ exceptional talents and a testament to the dedicated efforts of our branch."

In April 2025, with the entire announcement of the 98th Academy Awards regulations, the guidelines describing the qualifying criteria and voting methods for the first award will be revealed. 

Nearly 160 people are now members of the Academy's casting directors' division, which was founded in July 2013.