The Oscars, also referred to as the Academy Awards, are prizes given for artistic and technical excellence in the motion picture industry. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) presents the awards each year as a means of recognising excellence in cinematic achievements around the world as determined by the voting membership of the Academy. The various category winners are presented a copy of a golden statuette, formally called the “Academy Award of Merit”, although more frequently referred to by its nickname, the “Oscar”. The figurine has an Art Deco-styled rendering of a knight.
George Stanley originally created the award from a design sketch made by Cedric Gibbons. In what would come to be recognised as the first Academy Awards, AMPAS initially gave it out in 1929 at a private luncheon given by Douglas Fairbanks at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The first radio broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony took place in 1930, while the first television broadcast occurred in 1953. It is the oldest entertainment awards show in the world and is currently broadcast live on television. The other three honours in the same category, the Grammy Awards for music, the Tony Awards for theatre, and the Emmy Awards for television, are all based on the Academy Awards. It is also the oldest of the four major annual American entertainment awards. They are frequently said to as the most illustrious and coveted competition prize in the entertainment industry.