78th Academy Awards
The 78th Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST / 8:00 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled one week later than usual to avoid a clash with the 2006 Winter Olympics.[3] During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories honoring films released in 2005. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz.[4][5] Actor Jon Stewart hosted the show for the first time.[6] Two weeks earlier in a ceremony at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California held on February 18, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Rachel McAdams.[7]
78th Academy Awards
March 5, 2006
Kodak Theatre
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Billy Bush,
Chris Connelly,
Cynthia Garrett, and
Vanessa Minnillo[1]
Brokeback Mountain, Crash, King Kong and Memoirs of a Geisha (3)
Brokeback Mountain (8)
3 hours, 33 minutes[2]
38.94 million
23.0% (Nielsen ratings)
Crash won three awards, including Best Picture.[8] Other winners included Brokeback Mountain, King Kong, and Memoirs of a Geisha with three awards and Capote, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Constant Gardener, Hustle & Flow, March of the Penguins, The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation, A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, Six Shooter, Syriana, Tsotsi, Walk the Line, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit with one. The telecast garnered nearly 39 million viewers in the United States.