OSCAR

Mayer

It is Academy Awards time again. The nominations were announced yesterday. As to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it began 86 years ago on the 11^th January 1927. 

Nagel

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 labour 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.

Niblo

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 the 11^th January 1927. 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, that the name changed to "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".