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Oscar

Event Name:The (n)th Annual Academy Awards
Official Name:The Academy Award of Merit
Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:Oscar statuette
Criteria:
  • With the exceptions of animated and foreign films any film can qualify for Oscars in all narrative feature categories with a seven-day run in any commercial Los Angeles County theater during the year of eligibility. Films must have a running length of more than 40 minutes and have been exhibited theatrically on 35 mm, 70 mm film or in a qualifying digital format.
  • Films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for an Oscar in any category.
  • - Animated Feature Films -
  • The award is being triggered by the release of eight or more eligible films in a calendar year. If eight to fifteen animated features are released, a maximum of three films may be nominated. If sixteen or more are released, a maximum of five may be nominated.
  • To be eligible, an animated feature must be at least 70 minutes in length, "primarily animated," and meet the other general requirements for feature film eligibility as published annually in the Academy Award Rules.
  • Films could use cel animation, computer animation, stop motion or other recognized animation techniques.
  • The Oscar for the category will be presented to "the key creative talent most clearly responsible for the overall achievement", normally a single individual, on behalf of the entire production. In no case will more than two statuettes be presented.
  • Films submitted in the Best Animated Feature category may qualify for Academy Awards in other areas, including Best Picture, provided they meet the rules criteria governing those categories. (as of 2000)
  • - Foreign Language Films -
  • Each country is invited to submit its best film of the year to the Academy. Selection of those entries is made by juries made up of filmmakers from that country. Only one film, which need not have been released in Los Angeles, is accepted from each country. A film must have had its first public showing for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial theater in its home country in the period of eligibility (November 1 to October 31, as of 2001) and must have been produced with a predominantly non-English dialogue track in a language of the submitting country.
  • Films submitted for Best Foreign Language Film Award consideration may also qualify for Academy Awards in most other categories provided they meet the requirements governing those categories.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:regular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1929-
Comments:
  • The Academy Award (Oscar) is the main national film award in the USA.
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization composed of over 6,000 motion picture craftsmen and women. (as of 1999)
  • The Oscar statuette has been designed by Cedric Gibbons and sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley. Each statuette is made from the alloy britannium and is then plated in copper, nickel silver, and finally, 24-karat gold and is manufactured by R.S. Owens and Company in Chicago. It stands 13-1/2 inches tall and weighs 8-1/2 pounds. The Oscar depicts a knight, holding a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film. The film reel features five spokes, signifying the five original branches of the Academy (actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers.)
  • How Oscar received his nickname is not exactly clear. The most popular story is that Margaret Herrick, an Academy employee and eventual executive director, remarked that the statuette resembled her Uncle Oscar, and the Academy staff began to refer to it by that name. Whatever the actual origin of the nickname, it was well enough known by 1934 that Walt Disney supposedly used it during an acceptance speech that year. Although journalists used the nickname with increasing frequency during the late 1930s, the Academy did not officially use the name Oscar until 1939.
  • As of 2000 the award ceremonies have been held 25 times at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 11 at the Pantages Theatre, 10 at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium, 8 times each at the Biltmore Hotel and the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 6 at the Ambassador Hotel, 3 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre and once each at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and the Academy Award Theater (1949 Melrose Avenue headquarters).
  • As of 2001 88 countries have submitted films for the foreign-language category at least once over the years.
  • The Academy Awards ceremonies are commonly named after their according year of eligibility of films. E.g. the ceremony which took place in March 1997 is referred to as the 1996 Academy Awards.
Official website(s):http://www.oscar.com/
http://www.oscars.org/

Special Achievement Award

Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:Oscar statuette
Criteria:
  • The award is given for an achievement which makes an exceptional contribution to the motion picture for which it was created, but for which there is no annual award category. Unlike an Honorary Award, a Special Achievement Award is conferred only for achievements in films which meet the Academy's eligibility year and deadline requirements.
  • In the Makeup and Sound Effects Editing categories, the Award can be given if those committees fail to come up with three nominations. In that case the committee may recommend to the Board of Governors that a special Achievement Award be voted instead.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1973-

Juvenile Award

Official Name:Honorary Juvenile Award
Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:miniature Oscar statuette
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1934-1960
Comments:
  • This is a honorary award.

Honorary Award

Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:Oscar statuette
AMPAS life membership
scroll
medal
Criteria:
  • Given for exceptional distinction in the making of motion pictures or for outstanding service to the Academy.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Comments:
  • The Honorary Award does not have a specific format. It depends on the situation and is chosen by the Board of Governors.

Medal of Commendation

Official Name:John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation (1996-)
Medal of Commendation (1977-1995)
Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:medal
Criteria:
  • The award is given for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1977-
Comments:
  • This is a honorary award. It is named in honor of the late director of special projects at Warner Hollywood Studios, John A. Bonner.

Award of Commendation

Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:plaque
certificate
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Comments:
  • This is a honorary award.

Special Commendation

Media type(s):Film
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Comments:
  • This is a honorary award.

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:bronze head of Thalberg
Criteria:
  • Given to a creative producer who has been responsible for a consistently high quality of motion picture production.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1937-

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:Oscar statuette
Criteria:
  • Given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1956-

Academy Award of Merit

Official Name:Scientific and Technical Academy Award of Merit
Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:Oscar statuette
Criteria:
  • Scientific and technical awards are given for devices, methods, formulas, discoveries or inventions of special and outstanding value to the arts and sciences of motion pictures and that also have a proven history of use in the motion picture industry.
  • The Scientific and Technical Academy Award of Merit is given for basic achievements that have a definite influence upon the advancement of the industry.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1931-
Comments:
  • Also known as Scientific and Technical Award I. class.

Scientific and Engineering Award

Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:plaque
Criteria:
  • The award is given for those achievements that exhibit a high level of engineering and are important to the progress of the industry.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1931-
Comments:
  • Also known as Scientific and Technical Award II. class.

Technical Achievement Award

Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:certificate
Criteria:
  • The award is given for those accomplishments that contribute to the progress of the industry.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1931-
Comments:
  • Also known as Scientific and Technical Award III. class.

Gordon E. Sawyer Award

Media type(s):Film
Format/Amount:Oscar statuette
Criteria:
  • Given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry.
  • Recommendations for this award have customarily been made through the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee.
Initiator:Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Time Specification:irregular
Geographic Specification:national (international)
Given:1982-
Comments:
  • The award is named for Gordon Sawyer, former Head of the Sound department at Samuel Goldwyn Studios and a member of the AMPAS Scientific and Technical Awards Committee from 1936 to 1977, who claimed that the lists of past awards, arranged both chronologically and by category, represented a history of the development of motion pictures.