Some facts about Oscars

LAHORE: Televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide, the star-studded ceremony of the 88th Annual Academy Awards or the "Oscars" was held inside the Dolby Theatre, formerly known as the Kodak Theatre, at the 387,000-square-foot Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The Dolby Theatre is a live-performance auditorium situated on the famous Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Basically a shopping mall and entertainment complex, the Hollywood & Highland Center has over 70 shops and 25 restaurants, besides housing 65,000 square feet of gathering spaces including the Grand Ballroom, used for the Oscars Governors Ball. 

Those who have been to the magnificent Los Angeles would know that the 637-room Loews Hollywood Hotel is also part of the site. Developed by Trizec Properties, with funds from the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Hollywood & Highland had opened after three years of construction in November 2001 

Trizec Properties Incorporated had sold its interest in the development for over $200 million in 2004 to CIM Group.  This was a substantial loss and represented an investment failure as it was estimated that Trizec had spent at least $625 million to develop the center.

The awards ceremony was first broadcast to radio in 1930 and televised in 1953. It is now seen live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. Between 1929 and 2015, a total of 2,947 Oscars have been awarded.

In 1929, the price of admission for a ticket to the first Oscars ceremony was just $5, which is worth roughly $68.14 today. Some 270 people had attended this function. Only US dollar one is an amount for which an Oscar winner must offer to sell his statuette back the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before selling on their own.

Katherine Hepburn had won four or the highest number of acting Oscars for her performances in "Morning Glory," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "The Lion in Winter," and "On Golden Pond."

Films "Ben-Hur," "Titanic," and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King " had won the most or 11 Oscars each. Actor Bob Hope had hosted the Oscars some 19 times, which is more than anyone else in history.

Walt Disney had received 22 Oscars throughout his lifetime. Music composer John Williams had received 49 Oscar nominations throughout his career.(Reference: A January 27, 2015 report of the ABC News)

First presented on May 16, 1929, the Academy Awards are hosted annually since then by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognise excellence in cinematic achievements in the film industry.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences a professional honorary organisation, had maintained a voting membership of 5,783 as of 2012.

Until 2010, winners were expected to return the statuettes to the Academy after the ceremony and wait several weeks to have inscriptions applied. Since 2010, winners have had the option of having engraved nameplates applied to their statuettes at an inscription-processing station at the Governor's Ball, a party held immediately after the Oscar ceremony.

In 2010, Messrs R.S. Owens had made 197 engraved nameplates ahead of the ceremony, bearing the names of every potential winner. The 175 or so nameplates for non-winning nominees were recycled afterwards.

(References: Parade Magazine's February 9, 2010 and February 28, 2014 editions)

It has become a tradition to give out gift bags to the presenters and performers at the Oscars. In recent years these gifts have also been extended to award nominees and winners.

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.

(References: ABC News report of April 4, 2014 and a CBS News report of March 5, 2014)

Historically, the "Oscar cast" has pulled in a bigger haul when box-office hits are favoured to win the Best Picture trophy. More than 57.25 million viewers tuned to the telecast for the 1998 function when film "Titanic" had generated close to US$600 million at the North American box office pre-Oscars.

(Reference: A January 26, 2005 report of the USA Today)

The first countries to broadcast the Academy Awards on television, aside from the United States, were Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico; the latter two countries did not broadcast the live show, and Mexico did not carry the live event until 1964. 

By 1954, seven other countries, namely Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France, were already broadcasting the Awards show, although previously filmed into a condensed 60-minute version, called the "International Edition" of the Academy Awards was screened. 

The Awards show was broadcast for the first time via satellite in 1970, but only two South American countries, Chile and Brazil purchased the rights to air the live event. By that time, the television rights to the Awards show were sold in 50 countries. A decade later, the TV rights to the Oscars were already being sold to 60 countries, and by 1984, the TV rights to the Awards were licensed in 76 countries.

However, several Asian and Australasian countries, such as Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand were already carrying the live broadcast of the Awards show since the late 1970s.

Originally scheduled for April 8, 1968, the 40th Academy Awards ceremony was postponed for two days, because of the assassination of activist Martin Luther King.

On March 30, 1981, the 53rd Academy Awards ceremony was postponed for one day, after the shooting of President Ronald Reagan in Washington DC. 

While the first Oscars, in 1929, had lasted 15 minutes, the 2002 ceremony had continued for four hours and 23 minutes.

(Reference: The February 28, 2014 edition of the "Metro," New York City)

From 1983 to 2015, about 50 Oscars were made each year in Chicago.

However, in 2016, the Academy returned to bronze as the core metal of the statuettes, handing manufacturing duties to a New York-based firm.

(References: The February 20, 2009 edition of the 

Boston Globe and the Hollywood Reporter.com)

The February 16, 2016 edition of the "Hollywood Reporter.com" had stated: "This year's statuettes will be produced by Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry and will be hand-cast in bronze before receiving their 24-karat gold finish. The Oscar statuettes that will be handed out at the 88th Academy Awards on February 28 will be produced by Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry, based in Rock Tavern, New York. The time required to produce 50 statuettes in this manner is about three months. And the overall size of the statuette remains the same, with a height of 13.5 inches and weight of 8.5 pounds."

In one of its recent reports on Oscars, the BBC has reported: "The value of the jewellery worn by those attending the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles runs into millions of dollars. In 2008, US actress Nicole Kidman has worn diamonds worth $7 million. However, the stars rarely pay for this. In fact jewellers lend their key pieces to leading stars to gain publicity. The most expensive jewellery ever worn at Oscars was by American actress and visual artist, Gloria Stuart. The price of her necklace was around $20 million."