From Academy Bylaws:
Article III, Section 1. Membership shall be by invitation of the Board of Governors. Invitations to active membership shall be limited to those persons active in the motion picture arts and sciences, or credited with screen achievements, or who have otherwise achieved distinction in the motion picture arts and sciences and who, in the opinion of the Board, are qualified for membership.
To be considered for invitation to membership in the Producers Branch of the Academy, a candidate must:
(a) Perform the majority of the functions of a producer, on theatrical feature films of a caliber which, in the opinion of the executive committee, reflect the high standards of the Academy.
• In general, candidates must play a major role in originating the projects on which they have received credit.
• Have earned the PGA “mark” as a credited producer on three theatrical feature films, regardless of the number of additional persons receiving the “mark.”
OR
• For films without the PGA “mark,” the candidate must have the equivalent of two producer screen credits (not executive producer, co-producer, associate producer, line producer, “produced in association with,” or any other credit). Where more than one person receives a producer or “produced by” credit, such credit is reflected for the purposes of branch eligibility by the appropriate fraction; e.g., a producer credit shared by two individuals is calculated as .5 for each toward the requisite minimum of 2.
• For candidates who function primarily as talent managers, producer credits on films in which a client is prominently involved will not be counted toward the requisite minimum.
• Normally, at least one of the credits must be for a picture released within the most recent ten years.
(b) A candidate may also qualify for membership by having been an Academy Award-eligible producer on a picture nominated by the Academy for the Best Picture award.
(c) A candidate who meets the criteria of (a) and its subheadings, with the exception that the candidate does not normally originate projects, may, nevertheless, be invited to membership if the candidate has achieved exceptional distinction.
(d) A candidate who has achieved unique distinction, earned special merit or made an outstanding contribution as a motion picture producer may be invited to membership.