Kris Bowers’ election to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board of governors gives the music branch a newly awarded seat at one of the organization’s most important decision-making tables. For publishers, songwriters, composers and rights holders, that matters because the board sets the Academy’s strategic vision, protects its financial health and helps guide its mission.
Bowers joins the music branch’s board lineup
Bowers has been elected to the board of governors representing the music branch, joining composers Lesley Barber and Carter Burwell, who are both midterm. The governors will take office at the first scheduled board meeting of the new term. Bowers, 37, replaces Richard Gibbs, whose term ended.
Bowers has received Oscar nominations for film scoring for The Wild Robot and for documentary short films for A Concerto Is a Conversation and The Last Repair Shop, both made in collaboration with Ben Proudfoot. He won for The Last Repair Shop.
A career built across film, television and awards recognition
Bowers has scored films including Green Book, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Respect, King Richard, The Color Purple and Bob Marley: One Love, as well as the TV series Bridgerton. He has also received four Grammy nominations and four Primetime Emmy nominations.
His Grammy nods include a 2020 nomination for his arrangement of his own recording of “Blue Skies” from the Green Book soundtrack, followed by nominations for Bridgerton, The Color Purple and The Wild Robot. His Emmy nominations are for When They See Us, Mrs. America and two nominations for Bridgerton.
Barber and Burwell bring established Academy experience
Barber, 63, is best known for her score for Manchester by the Sea. Her other credits include Late Night, Mansfield Park, Irreplaceable You, Bonjour Tristesse, American Woman, How To Change the World and You Can Count on Me.
Burwell, 71, has scored Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, Gods and Monsters, Being John Malkovich, Before Night Falls, Adaptation, In Bruges, Twilight and True Grit. He was nominated for Oscars for Carol, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin, and won a Primetime Emmy for Mildred Pierce.
What the Academy board now looks like
The Academy has 19 branches, each represented by three governors. Following this election, the board is 47% women and 32% from underrepresented communities, based on self-reporting. Governors may serve up to two three-year terms, followed by a two-year hiatus, with a lifetime maximum of 12 years.
What to watch next: Bowers, Barber and Burwell will take office at the first scheduled board meeting of the new term.
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