Guillermo del Toro elected to Academy board as governors expand to 60 members under new equity rules

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its newly elected Board of Governors for the 2026-2027 term on 15 June, bringing three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro onto the board for the first time in the Directors branch. Filmmaker David Leitch, who alongside his wife and producing partner Kelly McCormick was the primary voice advocating for the upcoming Stunt Design Oscar category arriving in 2028, also joins the board for the first time in the newly expanded Production and Technology branch. Composer Kris Bowers was among the other first-time governors elected.

Structural overhaul

A bylaws amendment approved by the board in February 2026 reshapes governance: all 19 Academy branches will now each have three branch-elected governors. The change adds five branch-elected seats, bringing the total to 60 industry figures on the board. The expansion affects the Animation, Production and Technology, and Short Films branches, which previously had fewer than three governors each.

Staggered terms in expanded branches

To establish staggered terms, governors in the three expanded branches were elected this year to one-year, two-year, or three-year terms rather than the standard three-year cycle. In Animation, Bonnie Arnold drew a three-year term and Jinko Gotoh a one-year term. In Production and Technology, Wendy Aylsworth will serve three years, Vic Armstrong two years, and David Leitch one year. In Short Films, Kim Magnusson received three years and Bob Rogers two years. Elections in 2027 will revert to the standard protocol of one governor election per branch with three-year terms.

Incumbents and returning governors

Nine incumbent governors were reelected, including Lou Diamond Phillips (Actors Branch), Jinko Gotoh (Animation), Daniel Orlandi (Costume Designers), Hannah Minghella (Executives), David Dinerstein (Marketing and Public Relations), Wendy Aylsworth (Production and Technology), Kalina Ivanov (Production Design), Mark P. Stoeckinger (Sound), and Dana Stevens (Writers). Five governors return after a hiatus: Bonnie Arnold (Animation), Bernard Telsey (Casting Directors), Roger Ross Williams (Documentary), Bob Rogers (Short Films), and Paul Debevec (Visual Effects).

Diversity and term limits

The new board comprises 47 percent women and 32 percent from underrepresented communities, based on self-reporting. Governors may serve up to two three-year terms, consecutive or non-consecutive, followed by a two-year hiatus before eligibility renews for up to two additional three-year terms, for a lifetime maximum of 12 years. Terms shorter than three years resulting from the 2026 staggered election do not count against those term limits.