Gil Cates, Ed Zwick in Academy governors board run-off

Branch members will receive second ballots this week that are due back by July 29, in what Academy executive director Bruce Davis said could be the first time a run-off had been necessary in the voting for Academy governors.

Meanwhile Tom Hanks is returning as a governor, actors branch, after a year off while branch members also voted to keep nine incumbents in place and named four new appointees.

Those elected to the Academy Board for the first time are: James D Bissell, art directors branch; Lynne Littman, documentary; Robert G Friedman, public relations; and Bill Kroyer, short films and feature animation.

Littman was elected to fill the seat originally held by Michael Apted, who stepped down early because of overseas work obligations on The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. Littman will serve the two years remaining on Apted’s term.

Incumbent governors returning to the board include Caleb Deschanel, cinematographers branch; Rob Epstein, documentary; Tom Sherak, executives; Mark Goldblatt, film editors; Bruce Broughton, music; Mark Johnson, producers; Kevin O’Connell, sound; Bill Taylor, visual effects; and James L Brooks, writers.

Governors who were not up for re-election and continue on the board are: Annette Bening and Henry Winkler, actors branch; Rosemary Brandenburg and Jeffrey Kurland, art directors; Owen Roizman and Vilmos Zsigmond, cinematographers; Martha Coolidge and Curtis Hanson, directors; Richard Pearce, documentary; and Jim Gianopulos and Robert Rehme, executives.

The list continues with: Dede Allen and Donn Cambern, film editors; Leonard Engelman, make-up artists and hairstylists; Charles Fox and Arthur Hamilton, music; Kathleen Kennedy and Hawk Koch, producers; Sid Ganis and Marvin Levy, public relations; Carl Bell and John Lasseter, short films and feature animation; Curt Behlmer and Don Hall, sound; Craig Barron and Richard Edlund, visual effects; and Frank Pierson and Phil Robinson, writers.