Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Headquarters building
Abbreviation	AMPAS
Formation	May 11, 1927
Type	Film organization
Headquarters	Beverly Hills, California, USA
Location	8949 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, California 90211
Membership	over 6,000
President	Tom Sherak
Website	www.oscars.org

Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study building on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California

Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in the Hollywood district

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures. The Academy's corporate management and general policies are overseen by a Board of Governors, which includes representatives from each of the craft branches.

The Academy is composed of over 6,000 motion picture professionals. While the great majority of its members are based in the United States, membership is open to qualified filmmakers around the world.

The Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards, informally known as the "Oscars". In addition, the Academy gives Student Academy Awards annually to filmmakers at the undergraduate and graduate level; awards up to five Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting annually; and operates the Margaret Herrick Library (at the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study) in Beverly Hills, California and the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

The current president of the Academy is Tom Sherak.^[1]

History

The notion of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) began with Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes and improve the industry’s image. So, on a Sunday evening, Mayer and three other studio big-wigs - actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fred Beetson - sat down and discussed these matters. The idea of this elite club having an annual banquet was tossed around, but there was no mention of awards just yet. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry: actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers.^[2]

After their brief meeting, Mayer gathered up a group of thirty-six people involved in the film industry and invited them to a formal banquet at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on January 11, 1927.^[3] That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and it was open to those who had contributed to the motion picture industry. Everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy. It wasn’t until later, when Mayer’s lawyers wrote up the charter, did the name change to "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".^[2]

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of the Academy. As one of his first acts, he added an activity of bestowing “awards of merit for distinctive achievement.” However, they were on the brink of forming something historical. A year later the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began.^[4] This "award of merit for distinctive achievement" is what we know now as the Academy Award.

In 1929, the Academy, in a joint venture with the University of Southern California, created America's first film school to further the art and science of moving pictures. The School’s founding faculty included Fairbanks (President of the Academy), D. W. Griffith, William C. deMille, Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg, and Darryl F. Zanuck.

In 2009 the inaugural Governors Awards were held, at which the Academy awards the Academy Honorary Award and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

Galleries and theaters

The Academy’s numerous and diverse operations are housed in three facilities in the Los Angeles area: the headquarters building in Beverly Hills, which was constructed specifically for the Academy, and two Centers for Motion Picture Study – one in Beverly Hills, the other in Hollywood – which were existing structures restored and transformed to contain the Academy’s Library, Film Archive and other departments and programs.

The Academy's main building in Beverly Hills houses two galleries that are open free to the public. The Grand Lobby Gallery and the Fourth Floor Gallery offer changing exhibits related to films, film-making and film personalities.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater seats 1,012, and was designed to present films at maximum technical accuracy, with state-of-the-art projection equipment and sound system. Located in the headquarters building, the theater is busy year-round with the Academy's public programming, members-only screenings, movie premieres and other special activities (including the live television broadcast of the Academy Awards nominations announcement every January).

The Academy Little Theater is a 67-seat screening facility also located at the Academy's headquarters in Beverly Hills.

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in Hollywood and seats 286 people.

There is also a theater for New York-based Academy events, Academy Theater at Lighthouse International.

Membership

Membership in the Academy is by invitation only. Invitation comes from the Board of Governors. Membership eligibility may be achieved by earning a competitive Oscar nomination or an existing member may submit a name based on other significant contribution to the field of motion pictures.

New membership proposals are considered annually. The Academy does not publicly disclose its full membership, although press releases have announced the names of those who have recently been invited to join.

Academy membership is divided into 15 branches, representing different disciplines in motion pictures. Members may not belong to more than one branch. Members whose work does not fall within one of the branches may belong to a group known as "Members At Large." Members at Large have all the privileges of branch membership except for representation on the Board. Associate members are those closely allied to the industry but not actively engaged in motion picture production. They are not represented on the Board and do not vote on Academy Awards.

Academy Branches

• Actors
• Art Directors
• Cinematographers
• Directors
• Documentary
• Executives
• Film Editors
• Makeup Artists & Hairstylists
• Music
• Producers
• Public Relations
• Short Films and Feature Animation
• Sound
• Visual Effects
• Writers

Original 36 founders of the Academy

Actors Richard Barthelmess Jack Holt Conrad Nagel Milton Sills Douglas Fairbanks Harold Lloyd Mary Pickford Directors Cecil B. DeMille Frank Lloyd Henry King Fred Niblo John M. Stahl Raoul Walsh

Lawyers Edwin Loeb George W. Cohen Producers Fred Beetson Charles H. Christie Sid Grauman Milton E. Hoffman Jesse L. Lasky M. C. Levee Louis B. Mayer Joseph M. Schenck Irving Thalberg Harry Warner Jack Warner Harry Rapf

Technicians J. Arthur Ball Cedric Gibbons Roy J. Pomeroy Writers Joseph Farnham Benjamin Glazer Jeanie MacPherson Bess Meredyth Carey Wilson Frank E. Woods

Presidents of the Academy

Presidents are elected for one-year terms and may not be elected for more than four consecutive terms.

• Douglas Fairbanks 1927–1929
• William C. deMille 1929–1931
• M. C. Levee 1931–1932
• Conrad Nagel 1932–1933
• J. Theodore Reed 1933–1934
• Frank Lloyd 1934–1935
• Frank Capra 1935–1939
• Walter Wanger 1939–1941, 1941–1945
• Bette Davis 1941 (resigned after two months)
• Jean Hersholt 1945–1949
• Charles Brackett 1949–1955
• George Seaton 1955–1958
• George Stevens 1958–1959
• B. B. Kahane 1959–1960 (died)
• Valentine Davies 1960–1961 (died)
• Wendell Corey 1961–1963
• Arthur Freed 1963–1967
• Gregory Peck 1967–1970
• Daniel Taradash 1970–1973
• Walter Mirisch 1973–1977
• Howard W. Koch 1977–1979
• Fay Kanin 1979–1983
• Gene Allen 1983–1985
• Robert Wise 1985–1988
• Richard Kahn 1988–1989
• Karl Malden 1989–1992
• Robert Rehme 1992–1993, 1997–2001
• Arthur Hiller 1993–1997
• Frank Pierson 2001–2005
• Sid Ganis 2005–2009
• Tom Sherak 2009–present

Current administration of the Academy

Academy Officers 2010-2011

• President – Tom Sherak
• First Vice President – Sid Ganis
• Vice President – James L. Brooks
• Vice President – Phil Alden Robinson
• Treasurer – Hawk Koch
• Secretary – Annette Bening
• Executive Director – Bruce Davis

Board of Governors 2010-2011

• John Bailey
• Craig Barron
• Ed Begley, Jr.
• Curt Behlmer
• Annette Bening
• Kathryn Bigelow
• James D. Bissell
• Jon Bloom
• Rosemary Brandenburg
• James L. Brooks
• Bruce Broughton
• Donn Cambern
• Anne Coates
• Martha Coolidge
• Caleb Deschanel
• Richard Edlund
• Leonard Engelman
• Rob Epstein
• Charles Fox
• Robert G. Friedman
• Sid Ganis
• Jim Gianopulos
• Mark Goldblatt
• Don Hall
• Arthur Hamilton
• Tom Hanks
• Mark Johnson
• Kathleen Kennedy
• Hawk Koch
• Bill Kroyer
• Jeffrey Kurland
• John Lasseter
• Marvin Levy
• Lynne Littman
• Michael Moore
• Kevin O'Connell
• Frank Pierson
• Robert Rehme
• Phil Alden Robinson
• Owen Roizman
• Tom Sherak
• Bill Taylor
• Edward Zwick

Governors By Branch

Actors Annette Bening Tom Hanks Henry Winkler Art Directors James D. Bissell Rosemary Brandenburg Jeffrey Kurland Cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond Owen Roizman Caleb Deschanel Directors Martha Coolidge Curtis Hanson Edward Zwick

Documentary Michael Moore Lynne Littman Rob Epstein Executives Jim Gianopulos Robert Rehme Tom Sherak Film Editors Dede Allen Donn Cambern Mark Goldblatt Makeup Leonard Engelman

Music Charles Fox Bruce Broughton Arthur Hamilton Producers Hawk Koch Mark Johnson Kathleen Kennedy Public Relations Marvin Levy Sid Ganis Robert G. Friedman Short Films and Feature Animation Carl Bell John Lasseter Bill Kroyer

Sound Curt Behlmer Don Hall Kevin O'Connell Visual Effects Richard Edlund Craig Barron Bill Taylor Writers Frank R. Pierson James L. Brooks Phil Alden Robinson

See also

• Academy Awards
• Governors Awards
• Academy Film Archive

Not to be confused with...

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina Awards
• Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• American Film Institute
• Motion Picture Association of America

Notes and references

1. ^ Tom Sherak Elected President of AMPAS
2. ^ ^{a b} Wiley, Mason, and Damien Bona. Inside Oscar. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986 pg. 2
3. ^ Levy, Emanuel. And The Winner Is.... New York: Ungar Publishing, 1987 pg. 1
4. ^ Wiley, Mason, and Damien Bona. Inside Oscar. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986 pg. 3

External links

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• The Official Academy Awards Database of Winners and Nominees
• Margaret Herrick Library
• Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study - Academy Film Archive
• The Oscars at YouTube (operated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
• Hollywood Is A Union Town, The Nation, 2 April 1938, history of the Academy and Screen Actors Guild