News

Across the World and Back: Rare 1920s and 1930s Footage from Aloha Wanderwell Baker

Posted Tuesday, March 24, 2015 - 17:30

This rarely seen footage of adventure filmmaker Aloha Wanderwell Baker, the first woman to travel around the world by car, was recently preserved by the Academy Film Archive. The Aloha Wanderwell Film Collection at the Archive is a unique assortment of 16mm and 35mm films, revealing the story of Aloha’s around-the-globe adventures that captured the people, cultures and historical landmarks of five continents from the 1920s and 1930s. Rare 1920s and 1930s Footage from Aloha Wanderwell Baker Born in Canada as Idris Hall, Aloha was drawn to…

The Academy Explores Robots, Science and Superheroes with 'Deconstructing Big Hero 6'

Posted Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - 12:30

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will examine the creative leaps and technical innovations that went into crafting “Big Hero 6,” this year’s Oscar^® winner for Best Animated Feature Film, on Thursday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Silents and Shamrocks

Posted Tuesday, March 17, 2015 - 10:15

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and to pay tribute to Mabel Normand during Women’s History Month, we feature this shamrock-bearing sheet music cover for “Molly O (I Love You).”The song was written for the 1921 film Molly O’, based on Mack Sennett’s tender love story of an Irish girl’s struggle to overcome her lowly beginnings. Mabel Normand plays Molly O'Dair, the penniless daughter of an Irish washerwoman and a ditchdigger who falls in love with a millionaire bachelor. Image Marketed alongside the film, the song was to be played during screenings…

Academy Launches 2015 Student Academy Awards Competition

Posted Thursday, March 12, 2015 - 11:15

The Academy is now accepting entries for its 2015 Student Academy Awards competition. All Student Academy Award® winners become eligible for Oscars consideration. The 42nd Student Academy Awards presentation will be held on Friday, September 18, at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

A Century Ago: A Rare Look at a Spectacular San Francisco Expo

Posted Monday, March 9, 2015 - 11:45

This extraordinary silent footage housed at the Blackhawk Films Collection housed at the Academy Film Archive provides a look at the spectacular 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. An almost year-long celebration staged in San Francisco, California, the Expo celebrated the completion of the decade-long construction of the Panama Canal.The City by the Bay embraced the opportunity to rebuild its community following a devastating and destructive earthquake that fell on its citizens’ shoulders in 1906. The Expo took three years to construct and opened to great fanfare on February 20,…

Behind the Scenes of the Oscars Creators Program

Posted Monday, March 2, 2015 - 10:15

Meet the social media artists that make up our 2015 Oscars Creators.

Last Chance To Visit Academy’s Acclaimed Hollywood Costume Exhibition, Closing March 2

Posted Thursday, February 26, 2015 - 10:15

The critically acclaimed exhibition Hollywood Costume, in the final days of its worldwide tour at Los Angeles’s historic Wilshire May Company building, will have extended hours through its closing on Monday, March 2. Presented by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood Costume celebrates and examines costume design as an essential tool of cinematic storytelling. It brings together more than 150 iconic costumes from Hollywood’s Golden Age to the present, including such treasures as the Academy’s pair of the original ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz,” (Adrian, 1939) shown with Dorothy’s blue and white gingham pinafore dress.

How To Create a Great Costume Design

Posted Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - 10:45

In the introduction to her book, Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design, Deborah Nadoolman Landis sums up the job of the costume designer: “Ultimately, a costume must perfectly describe the individual for whom it was designed—not the superficial shell of a character but the outward expression of inner experience, the concrete manifestation of the character’s self-image.” Costume design extends beyond the realm of fashion and personal style. Unconcerned with setting trends, the costume designer aims to add depth and believability to the identities of the characters in the film. A…

Introducing the Academy Spotify Channel

Posted Friday, February 20, 2015 - 11:30

We are pleased to announce our first Spotify channel.

Watch ABC's "The Oscars® Backstage" To Stream Live On Facebook For The First Time

Posted Friday, February 20, 2015 - 09:15

The Academy. ABC Entertainment and Facebook are partnering to make this year's The Oscars Backstage on WATCH ABC the most "Likeable" ever. Beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, the curated "Director's Cut" feed from the award-winning The Oscars Backstage – which delivers three channels of live video feeds from over 20 cameras throughout the Dolby Theater to WATCH ABC for desktop and mobile devices - will also stream on the ABC Network's Facebook Page and be part of the Facebook Trending Oscars experience (www.facebook.com/oscars), which gives fans one place to connect in real time as they watch the night unfold.