Academy Awards are presented annually for outstanding achievements in filmmaking. The Academy Awards are supervised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with headquarters in Beverly Hills, California. Awards are announced for motion pictures made during the previous year. Winners of an Academy Award receive a gold-plated statue commonly called an Oscar. The origin of the award’s nickname is not certain. But according to one popular story, an academy librarian remarked that the statue resembled her Uncle Oscar. The press began calling the award the Oscar in the late 1930’s.
Academy Award nominations and Oscars can have a tremendous economic impact. An Oscar can add millions of dollars to a film’s box-office earnings and increase the future salary of individual winners.
Members of the various branches of the Academy nominate up to five individuals or films for awards in their particular areas. For example, directors nominate directors, and editors nominate editors. The entire Academy membership is eligible to nominate up to 10 films for best picture. After the nominees have been selected, a second round of balloting is held in which all members may vote in any category in which they have seen all the nominated achievements. Winners are announced on a live television special watched by many millions of viewers throughout the world.
The first Academy Awards were presented in 1929 for film achievement during late 1927 and early 1928. The number of Academy Awards given annually has changed over the years. Today, Oscars are awarded in 23 categories.
