At a time of flux for Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that oversees the Oscars, bet on continuity by announcing on Monday that it would extend Bill Kramer's term as CEO until July 2028.
Kramer's contract, which was set to be renewed in 2025, was approved a year early “thanks to his outstanding leadership and significant contributions,” the academy said.
“He is the ideal person to continue to expand the Academy’s reach and influence on the international film community and successfully lead the Academy for the next 100 years,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement.
The Academy has faced a number of challenges in recent years. The Oscars have struggled to diversify after nominating only white actors in 2015, suffered a steep drop in TV ratings ahead of the ceremony and suffered after Will Smith slammed Chris Rock. The museum opened in attendance at the 2022 Academy Awards.
According to Nielsen, the audience for this year's Academy Awards was 19.5 million, the highest in four years. Although Oscar viewership has increased for the third year in a row, it is still well below previous levels. Before 2018, broadcast television had never had fewer than 32 million viewers. This year's broadcast started an hour earlier than usual.
Before becoming CEO of the Academy in June 2022, Kramer served as director of the new museum, the Academy Film Museum, for two years and was credited with helping open the museum after years of delays. The total compensation received from the Academy and related organizations in 2022, the year Kramer took office as CEO, was $865,568.
Kramer's contract extension comes as the Academy Museum struggles to recover from criticism over how it tells the stories of Jewish immigrants who started the film studio and helped create the American film industry. When it first opened, it was criticized for having relatively little to say about the museum, despite celebrating diversity in film. The museum responded by opening a permanent new exhibit highlighting the contributions of Hollywood's Jewish founders, but after some Jewish film experts criticized the installation, the museum announced it would make changes.
Kramer currently oversees all aspects of the Academy, which employs more than 700 people in Los Angeles, New York and London.
The Academy's annual operating budget is about $170 million, 70% of which comes from its Oscar broadcast deal with Disney and ABC, which runs through 2028. Last month, the Academy announced a global $500 million campaign to support its financial future.
“Like any healthy organization or company, the Academy needs a sustainable and diverse base of support to allow for solid long-term planning and financial certainty,” Kramer said in an interview announcing the international fundraising effort.