Jacqueline Stewart Exits Academy Museum as Org Makes Key Promotions in Marketing, Finance and Archive Divisions

Matt Donnelly
·3-min read

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has undergone an executive reorganization that includes several promotions and departures within the governing body that hands out the Oscars. Jacqueline Stewart is out as Academy Museum director and Amy Homma has been named to succeed her, while chief communications officer Jennifer Davidson was promoted and additional changes were announced in the Academy’s revenue and archival departments.

“As the Academy evolves, we are bringing teams together to create a better sense of shared purpose across the organization,” AMPAS CEO Bill Kramer said in a statement. “I am thrilled that we have an incredible team of dedicated and strategic professionals at the Academy who have greatly earned these promotions.”

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Homma has been appointed director and president of the Academy Museum, where she’ll lead the strategic creative vision. She succeeds film scholar and TCM host Stewart, and will report to the museum board and CEO Kramer. Homma has been with the Academy Museum for five years and is currently the museum’s chief audience officer. She has successfully led the museum’s film programs, education and public engagement, community and impact, and digital content teams. Homma previously served as VP of education and public engagement, and came to the organization from a role as acting deputy director at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Meanwhile, Stewart will return to the University of Chicago to resume her scholarship, writing and teaching. One of the world’s foremost scholars and public educators on cinema, she was honored just as the museum opened in 2021 as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow. Her immense contributions to the Academy Museum are lasting, including making new galleries bilingual, initiating the museum’s first strategic planning process, and the opening of exhibitions including “Shifting Perspectives: Vertical Cinema” and “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898 – 1971.”

Davidson, widely known within the industry thanks to her role as AMPAS CCO, has been named chief marketing and communications officer. As of June 1, she will oversee marketing and audience development, communications, digital/social and creative brand strategy for all arms of the Academy, including the Academy Foundation, Academy Museum and the Oscars. She previously served as EVP at Babygrande PR and as VP of media relations at Sony Pictures Television, overseeing the studio’s domestic publicity for all series, pilots and awards campaign strategy.

Jenny Galante has been named chief revenue officer. She will drive diversified and global revenue growth for all arms of the Academy, including the Academy Foundation and Academy Museum. She will continue to oversee strategic brand partnerships, including Oscars sponsors and advertisers, and lead efforts for Academy100, a $500 million global revenue diversification and outreach campaign the Academy publicly launched in May. Previously, Galante managed corporate sponsorships for the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute’s year-round artist programs and special events.

Finally, Matt Severson has been named executive vice president of academy collection and preservation. He will oversee all archival, preservation, registration, conservation and cataloging work of the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy Film Archive and Academy Museum. This role centers, for the first time, all collections and preservation efforts for the a staggering 23 million-item bounty housed at AMPAS. A nearly 30-year veteran at the Academy, he holds an MA in film studies from San Francisco State University, and his writing has appeared in numerous publications. He recently edited the Academy Museum exhibition catalog “Agnés Varda: Director’s Inspiration,” published by the Academy and DelMonico Books last year.

Concurrent with Severson’s promotion is the retirement of Randy Haberkamp, who served as executive vice president of library, archive and SciTech. His impact over nearly 25 years included overseeing the Academy Film Archive and Margaret Herrick Library, developing robust film programming, spearheading efforts to diversify Academy collections, expanding the animation collection and helping to launch the Academy Gold program. While he officially retires on Aug. 2, Haberkamp will continue in a consultant role until next spring.

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