Jennifer Lopez, Jason Bateman invited to join Academy

HOLLYWOOD, June 29 (UPI) -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif., has invited 276 new members, including a larger number of women and minorities.

The 2013 class of 276 invitees is a bumper crop compared to those of recent years, largely due to changes in the academy's previous quota system, which restricted the number of people invited for each of its 16 branches, the Hollywood Reporter said Friday.

Among those invited this year are actors Jason Bateman, Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson and Sandra Oh.

Directors Ava DuVernay and Catherine Hardwicke received invites, and documentarians Robert Frank, who directed "Pull My Daisy," and "Shoah's" Claude Lanzmann were also included.

Of the 276 new invitees, 87 are women, or 31.5 percent. Of the roughly 6,000 current academy members, 23 percent are women.