The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. has added 103 new international, nonmember voters to its ranks.
This brings the total number of Golden Globes voters to 200 and represents the latest move by the embattled group as it works to re-engage with Hollywood. The HFPA is seeking to resume its perch in the awards firmament with a broadcast on NBC in time for its 80th anniversary next year.
Although these individuals represent the largest voting body in the HFPA’s history, they will not be full members of the organization. The HFPA amended its bylaws to create a new voter category within the group.
“The bylaws only allowed us to bring members within the U.S. in order to expand the voting body that everybody asked us to do more rapidly,” ‘HFPA spokesman James Lee said.
The new group representing 62 countries includes individuals from Latin American, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, with the largest, 43.5%, hailing from Europe.
According to the HFPA, the new set of voters were recruited from international industry organizations as well as from outreach efforts among foreign film festivals and other professional journalists.
“It was clear we had to find new opportunities to bring in additional voters to ensure the continued diversification and growth in the voting body,” Helen Hoehne, president of the HFPA, said in a statement.
It is the latest move by the group to broaden and diversify its roster that will consider Golden Globes nominees and winners.
The HFPA received widespread criticism after a Times investigation brought to light allegations of financial and ethical lapses and pointed out that not one of the HFPA’s then-87 members was Black. In May, NBC pulled the plug on the 2022 Golden Globes broadcast after Netflix cut ties with the organization “until more meaningful changes are made.”
Last year, the HFPA added 21 new members, six of whom are Black, and a chief diversity officer.
The new international voters will be subject to the group’s code of conduct; their applications were reviewed by the HFPA’s credential committee, which is comprised of HFPA members as well as independent journalists and entertainment professionals.
To date, the HFPA has yet to open applications for full-membership to U.S.-based journalists.
As part of the organization’s reform process, it created a nonvoting emeritus status among some long-standing members, who were no longer active journalists. However, the emeritus group’s status recently changed to allow members to vote. The HFPA recently sold its assets to interim Chief Executive Todd Boehly, transforming the tax-exempt organization into a for-profit venture.
