David Rubin is named president of the Academy

David Rubin at 2016 The Governors Awards
Michael Buckner/Variety/Shutterstock

A casting director as Academy president was an unlikely story — and that's also why he's the person the organization badly needs right now.

Tom Donahue’s documentary “Casting By” told the history of the craft through Dougherty’s story and made the full-throated argument that casting directors deserved Oscar recognition. It also shamed the Academy for failing to give Dougherty an honorary Oscar before her death in 2011, despite a campaign launched by heavyweights like Clint Eastwood and Al Pacino.

Meanwhile, the more nuanced and humble Rubin used the same history to lobby the Academy’s Board of Governors, even showing portions of the pre-released film, to make the case of the vital role casting directors play in Hollywood and the need for a seat at the table. The addition of the casting directors’ branch was approved by the Academy board just days before the film was set to premiere on HBO.