Critics have been furious since the Academy Award nominations were released last week, rendering this year the whitest Oscars since 1998. Many blame the Academy for failing to recognize more actors of color, but "The Humbling" director Barry Levinson said the issue goes much deeper than Hollywood.
Levinson, an Academy member himself, explained to HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri on Wednesday that the problem is far more complicated than a failure to nominate someone. He blamed budget cuts within the education system, specifically in arts, music and theatre programs, as a significant reason for Hollywood's diversity problem.
"If you say at any given year, 'Is there enough diversity in Hollywood?' Absolutely not," the director said, later adding. "We have to find ways to bring more people into the process. We need more diversification in Hollywood, but we've got to educate those people because you just can't show up as a director or an actor. There's training and all those things that have to go with it."
Levinson said "too many voices that might be great voices" are getting lost because "we're not paying attention and we're not working, in terms of a society, to make us better."
Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.