The Academy Awards are Hollywood’s biggest night of the year, and merely being nominated for an Oscar is extremely prestigious. With the 85th ceremony this weekend, it’s making us wonder how these awards developed their high reputation? How did The Academy start? Where did the nickname ‘Oscar’ come from? We’re taking a look into the Academy’s past to see how they got to where they are today.
May 16, 1929: Celebrities arrive in their luxary cars to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. After presenting their $5 ticket at the door for the 1st Academy Awards, the nominees (who were notified of their nominations via telegraph) made their way to one of the 36 banquet tables at the hotel. After many long speeches, actor and Academy President Douglas Fairbanks (Robin Hood) hosted the 15-minute ceremony, which honored films in 1927 and 1928. The 1927 silent film Wings won Best Picture. Warner Bros. received an honorary award for pioneering talking pictures, and Charlie Chaplin also received an honorary award for acting, writing, and directing the 1928 film, The Circus.
Much has changed in 84 years.
The Birth of the Academy
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded on May 11, 1927, after Louis B. Mayer of MGM decided he wanted to create an organization that united the entire film industry. So, with the help of actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo and producer Fred Beetson, the four film professionals planned a dinner the following week.
They invited people from five branches of the film industry, which were also the five original branches of the Academy: producers, actors, directors, writers, and technicians. On January 11, 1927, 36 people attended the event at the Ambassador Hotel in L.A., and there was overall great support and enthusiasm to start the Academy.
After a few months of paperwork, logistics, and officer elections, California finally recognized the Academy as a non-profit organization. About a week after receiving their charter, their first official banquet was held on May 11, 1927. 300 people attended the dinner, and 230 of those paid $100 to join the Academy.
Interestingly, the Academy presented their first official honorary membership that night to Thomas Edison, who produced a fair amount of films and directed two shorts.
The Academy Award
Although the first official Academy Awards ceremony was exciting, it wasn’t suspenseful. The recipients were told they won their awards three months before the big night. Emil Jannings won Best Actor for his performance in A Way of All Flesh. A German, Jannings had already planned to be overseas during the ceremony, so his Oscar statuette was given to him prior to the ceremony – which is considered to be the first Academy Award ever given.
There were 12 categories at the first Academy Awards – Outstanding Picture, Unique and Artistic Production, Best Director – Comedy Picture, Best Director – Dramatic Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Writing – Original Story, Best Writing – Adapted Story, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Engineering Effects, and Best Writing – Title Writing. Fifteen people were given golden Oscars that May evening: two people won the Best Cinemotagraphy award, a single person was awarded for the remaining eleven categories, and two honorary awards were given.
The Academy Today
Today, The Academy has 15 branches that are made made up of roughly 6,000 film industry professionals. The Academy holds seminars, lectures, owns the largest collection of films in the world, gives grants to students, provides internships, and much more.
Their Headquarters have been in a few different locations around the L.A. area, but since 1975 the Headquarters is on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverley Hills. The Academy also has two other buildings, the Pickford Center and the Fairbanks Center. The Pickford Center, named after silent film actress Mary Pickford, houses the film archive, the Science and Technology Council, and the Grants and Nicholl Fellowship programs. The Fairbanks Center, named after The Academy’s first president, Douglas Fairbanks, holds the Margaret Herrick Library and a very large collection of film-related materials. In 2006, The Academy announced they’re building a Museum of Motion Pictures, slated for a 2016 opening.
Once the specific qualifications are met, one must have at least two Academy members from their respective branch sponsor them. The final vote is on the Board of Governors. Additionally, membership is automatically considered if they are nominated for an Academy Award and are not already a member. However, being nominated for an Oscar doesn’t guarantee they will be invited to join the Academy.
Some current members of the Academy include Colin Firth, Harrison Ford, Jake Gyllenhaal, Christoph Waltz, Wes Anderson, Judd Apatow, and Julianne Moore. Last year, the L.A. Times performed a study on the demographics of the Academy which, unsurprisingly, showed that membership is skewed to older, white males.
The Academy is run by The Board of Governors, which has three representatives for all 15 branches of the Academy (with the exception of the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch having only one). Members of the Governor’s Branch include Tom Hanks, Kathryn Bigalow, and the current Academy President Hawk Koch.
Additionally, there’s also a Board of Trustees, which oversees cultural and educational activities.
Voting Process
Professional Services company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been the official tabulator of the Oscar votes since 1934.
Studios, publicists, and independent distributors participate in a “race” prior to nominations – which means they pass out many DVDs, tickets to screenings, etc., to ensure Academy members have seen their film. Campaigning is heavily monitored, and the sending of monetary gifts or bribes is strictly prohibited. Nomination ballots are mailed out every December to Academy members and are due back to PwC in January. Academy members can only nominate others in their specific branch – directors nominate directors, actors nominate actors, etc. However, only Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film are selected by vote of multiple-branch committees. All Academy members are able to nominate films for Best Picture.
Final ballots are mailed to Academy members in late January and are due back to PwC the Tuesday before the Oscars. All Academy members are able to vote for every category, except for Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, and Foreign Language – members must have seen all nominations in the respective categories to be able to vote.
Every year, there are two PwC employees that oversee the voting tabulation – this year, it’s Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas. They are the only two people in the world who will know the winners of the 2013 Oscars before the ceremony. They place the cards with the winners into the famous envelopes, which remain sealed until the Oscar presenter announces the respective winner(s) at the ceremony.
Milestones
2nd Awards: April 3, 1930 – The number of categories was reduced from 12 to seven. This is the only time the number of categories has decreased. Also, this is the first time the nominees were not told they won an Oscar prior to the ceremony.
3rd Awards: November 5, 1930 – Best Sound Recording was added as a category, and All Quiet on the Western Front won Best Film and Best Director, the first film to win both awards.
7th Awards: February 27, 1935 – Film Editing, Music Scoring, and Best Song were added to the categories. This is the first time the Academy voted on movies based upon calendar year, awarding films from solely 1934.
9th Awards: March 4, 1937 – The first Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress awards are presented.
10th Awards: March 10, 1938 – A Star is Born is the first color film to be nominated for an Oscar.
12th Awards: February 29, 1940 – Special Effects was given as added as a category, and Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Oscar. She won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Gone with the Wind. The film was also the first color movie to win Best Picture.
14th Awards: February 26, 1942 –A documentary category appeared on the ballot for the first time.
16th Awards: March 2, 1944 – This is the first time the Oscars were held at the Chinese Grauman’s Theater, and the first time it was at a large venue. This was also the first time winners took home statuette awards, before they were given awards mounted on plaques.
17th Awards: March 15, 1945 – For the first time, the Oscars were broadcast on the radio.
20th Awards: March 20, 1948 – The first special award to honor a foreign language motion picture was given to the Italian film Shoe-Shine. It wasn’t until 1956 that Best Foreign Film became an official category.
21st Awards: March 24, 1949 – Costume Design was added as a category, and Hamlet won Best Picture, the first non-Hollywood film to win that award.
25th Awards: March 19, 1953 – The Oscars were televised for the first time.
36th Awards: April 13, 1964 – The Special Effects Award was divided into Sound Effects and Special Visual Effects.
38th Awards: April 18, 1966 – The Oscar ceremony was televised in color for the first time.
54th Awards: March 29, 1982 – Best Makeup became an annual category.
74th Awards: March 24, 2002 – The Animated Feature Film Award is added. Shrek won the first Oscar.
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