On this day in 1929, the first ever Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, CA. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was concocted by then head of MGM studios, Louis B. Mayer, as an NPO for the advancement and improvement of the film industry. Well, leave it to Hollywood to be fancy, and, within two years, they were giving out golden statues. In the beginning, things were a lot different; the winners were announced before the dinner/ceremony, which was only attended by about 250 folks, and the 15 statues were handed out in a quick, five minute ceremony after dinner. Actor and Academy president Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., presided over the ceremony, and presented awards such as best picture to the $2M blockbuster WWI picture Wings, and best actor/actress awards to Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor.
F11 Rentals would like to point out that the revolutionary and ground-breaking film The Jazz Singer, the first ever “talkie“, was not awarded best picture, as it was seen as an unfair advantage since it had sound. F11 Rentals completely agrees with wardrobe and craft services, that sound on film is an unnecessary nuisance, and they got just what they deserved. (FiveSix Productions doesn’t agree with those sentiments.)
In 1942 secret ballots entered the picture, making the ceremony much more exciting. Mix secret ballots, fancy dresses and tuxedos on a Red Carpet, and all the glitz, glamor, and lights of Hollywood, and… announcing the wrong film as “best picture”, and we’ve got quite an exciting event on our hands each February.
Check out History Channel for more on this and other old subjects. And make sure to tell all your friends about FiveSix Productions, the best Las Vegas video production company!