The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it is extending invitations to 487 industry figures to join the membership ranks of the Oscars organiser. If all accept, it will bring the Academy’s total membership to 10,910, of which 9,934 would be voting members.

This year's list includes two Irish film heavyweights, actor Fiona Shaw and Element Pictures' Andrew Lowe.

Shaw's best-known film roles include the character of Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter series, among other parts in My Left Foot (1989), Persuasion (1995), Jane Eyre (1996), Colette (2018), Ammonite (2020), and Enola Holmes (2020). The Cork actress has received numerous nominations for her television and theatre roles, winning a BAFTA for Killing Eve, as well as the 1990 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for roles in the plays Electra, As You Like It, The Good Person of Szechwan (1990), and another Olivier for Machinal (1994). Shaw's most recent film credit includes the role of Margaret in John Krasinski's animated film IF, which hit cinemas in May.

Lauded Irish producer and co-founder of Dublin-based production company Element Pictures, alongside Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe has been a producer on such films as Cracks, The Guard, Shadow Dancer and Frank. His production of the fantasy film Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Picture at the 2024 Academy Awards along with Guiney, Lanthimos and Emma Stone, who also starred in the film.

Other Academy invitees include 2024 Oscar winners Da’Vine Joy Randolph from The Holdovers; Poor Things costume designer Holly Waddington and production design team James Price, Shona Heath and Zsuzsa Mihalek; 20 Days in Mariupol director Mstyslav Chernov, War Is Over! producer Brad Booker; The Zone of Interest sound duo Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn; the Godzilla Minus One VFX team Tatsuji Nojima, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Takashi Yamazaki; American Fiction writer-director Cord Jefferson; and Anatomy of a Fall writing duo Justine Triet and Arthur Harari.

“We are thrilled to welcome this year’s class of new members to the Academy,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang today. “These remarkably talented artists and professionals from around the world have made a significant impact on our filmmaking community.”

Other notables include Killers of the Flower Moon Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone; Bottoms filmmaker Emma Seligman; SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland; Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.; and the Past Lives trio of Celine Song, Greta Lee and Teo Yoo.