The news that veteran film and television figure Reginald Hudlin would be one of two people producing the Oscars this year was greeted with warm fanfare by those who care about diversity and a ceremony reflective of a cross-section of America. Hudlin, after all, has credits on racially diverse movies both commercial (“House Party,” Boomerang”) and elevated (“Django Unchained”). He also served as president of entertainment for BET and has executive produced the NAACP awards show.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which oversees the Oscars, is still struggling to even the scales when it comes to minority membership, in the wake of a devastating study by The Times in 2012 that found that 94% of the group's members were Caucasian.