Film Producer Defends Ideas Amid AMPAS Motion To Dismiss Suit

SANTA MONICA, CA — A film producer has responded to a motion by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seeking dismissal of his lawsuit alleging the organization should have voted on bylaw amendments he proposed to boost Oscars viewership, saying his recommendations are vital to the organization's future.

In his lawsuit, plaintiff Michael Shamberg, behind such films as "A Fish Called Wanda," "Erin Brockovich" and "Django Unchained," wants a judge to direct the academy to vote on his plan formulated in January 2020 for overhauling its social media approach as well as the conducting of an annual survey to collect ideas from members.

"My proposed amendments are constructive contributions to the future of the academy and the Academy Awards and, at the very least, are worthy of the board voting on them," Shamberg states in a sworn declaration brought Wednesday in Santa Monica Superior Court in opposition to an AMPAS motion to dismiss his suit.

Shamberg, in his mid-70s, further says the academy has been "in crisis" for the past several years because Oscar ratings have fallen by 75% from their peak.

"The Oscars have become irrelevant to the younger generations," Shamberg says. "The only way to keep the 20th century art form of movies alive in the 21st century is through the use of the 21st century technology of social media."

Shamberg claims that tor the two years leading up to the filing of his suit in July 2020, he has worked with the academy hoping to convince members to use the tools of state-of-the-art social media to inform both members and the public about the academy's mission.

"These social media tools include the ability for academy members to connect with one another, for the academy to be more responsive to member input and for the Academy to use the cinema grammar of popular platforms like TikTok and Instagram," Shamberg says.

Shamberg says he returned to Los Angeles from a movie shoot in New Orleans in March 2020 so he could attend a meeting and present his proposed amendments in person. The next day, then-Academy President David Rubin called the plaintiff and said the board declined to put Shamberg's amendment suggestions to a vote, even though his recommendations were well-received during and after the meeting.

Subsequently, the academy approved amendments to the organization's bylaws "that serve to restrict and infringe upon members' rights" to amend the bylaws, a violation of the state Corporations Code, Shamberg alleges.

But in their motion to dismiss Shamberg's suit, academy attorneys state that the bylaws do not require a vote by the board on "any and all amendments" proposed by an academy member.

"As plaintiff himself acknowledges in the complaint, the bylaws do not state a vote is required," the academy lawyers argue in their court papers. "While a vote may have been courteous, the board fully complied with the bylaws."

Shamberg was invited to present his proposals to the board and the board gave the plaintiff the only vote he was entitled to -- a call for a motion," the academy lawyers further argue in their court papers.

The academy's motion to dismiss Shamberg's suit is scheduled for hearing April 5 before Judge H. Jay Ford III.

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