Academy Awards
The Academy Awards of Merit,[1] commonly known as the Oscars or Academy Awards, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the film industry. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States, in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership.[2] The Oscars are widely considered to be the most prestigious awards in the film industry.[3]
"Oscars" and "The Oscar" redirect here. For other uses, see Oscar (disambiguation).Academy Awards
Excellence in the American and International film industry
United States
May 16, 1929
The major award categories are presented during a live-televised Hollywood ceremony, that is typically held in February or March. It is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony.[4] The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929.[5] The second ceremony, in 1930, was the first one broadcast by radio. The 1953 ceremony was the first one televised.[4] It is the oldest of the four major annual American entertainment awards. Its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music – are modeled after the Academy Awards.[6] The Oscar statuette depicts a knight, rendered in the Art Deco style.[7]
Criticism and controversies[edit]
Accusations of commercialism[edit]
Due to the positive exposure and prestige of the Academy Awards, many studios spend around 25 million dollars and hire publicists specifically to promote their films during what is typically called the "Oscar season".[117] This has generated accusations of the Academy Awards being influenced more by marketing and lobbying than by quality. William Friedkin, an Academy Award–winning film director and former producer of the ceremony, expressed this sentiment at a conference in New York in 2009, describing it as "the greatest promotion scheme that any industry ever devised for itself".[118]
Tim Dirks, editor of AMC's Filmsite, has written of the Academy Awards:
The following events are closely associated with the annual Academy Awards:
Presenter and performer gifts[edit]
It has become a tradition to give out gift bags to the presenters and performers at the Oscars. In recent years, these gifts have been extended to award nominees and winners.[188] The value of each of these gift bags can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars. In 2014, the value was reported to be as high as US$80,000.[189] The value has risen to the point where the U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued a statement regarding the gifts and their taxable status.[190]
Oscar gift bags have included vacation packages to Hawaii and Mexico and Japan, a private dinner party for the recipient and friends at a restaurant, videophones, a four-night stay at a hotel, watches, bracelets, spa treatments, bottles of vodka, maple salad dressing, weight-loss gummie candy and up to $25,000 worth of cosmetic treatments and rejuvenation procedures such as lip fillers and chemical peels from New York City facial plastic surgeon Konstantin Vasyukevich.[188][191][192][193][194] Some of the gifts have even had a "risque" element to them; in 2014, the adult products retailer Adam & Eve had a "Secret Room Gifting Suite". Celebrities visiting the gifting suite included Judith Hoag, Carolyn Hennesy, Kate Linder, Chris Mulkey, Jim O'Heir and John Salley.[195]