What Happens to the Academy Awards If Kodak Files Bankruptcy?

Rumors are flying that the Eastman Kodak Company, founded by the late George Eastman (July 12, 1854 – March 14, 1932) may file for bankruptcy. If the company does, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences could lose it's Oscar home over the last 10 years in the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the company based in Rochester, N.Y., agreed to pay $75 million over 20 years for their name on the theater, owned by the CIM Group. With that agreement, Kodak, aligned its company identity each year with the biggest motion picture event in Hollywood.

However, according to sources, if an Academy move does happen, it's not likely until after the 2013 broadcast. Apparently, there are certain clauses in the contract that representatives for Kodak and the Academy are now studying. My former colleagues employed in the accounting offices at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), will probably stay busy at the Academy after this year's awards.

Believe it or not, but the Academy may have outgrown the Kodak Theatre (seats 3,332), and other larger venues have opened in downtown Los Angeles, such as the Nokia Theatre (seats 7,100). On Wall Street, Kodak shares are no longer offered in dollars. At today's close, the price per share was 47 cents. Consequently, Kodak has apparently been warned by the New York Stock Exchange that its stock will be delisted if the price remains below $1 per share for the next six months.

Eastman Kodak has played a vital role in the development of motion pictures in America, helping to set the standard of 35 mm film, and introducing the 16 mm film format for home movies use and low-budget commercial films. Anyone remember Kodacolor, Kodachrome, and Technicolor in three colors?

But their biggest achievement was when the company introduced its first motion picture film designed especially for making sound motion pictures. If anyone knows anything much about American movies, they know that it was cooperation between George Eastman and Harry Warner of Warner Brothers Studios, that made the first synchronized sound, or "talkie," possible.  Eastman Kodak's first sound system for motion pictures was known as Vitaphone.

The movie wasn't a total talkie, but consisted of synchronized sound sequences dispersed within the 1927 black and white movie, The Jazz Singer, which had about 15 minutes of Al Jolsen singing. For more on Eastman Kodak's contribution, for which they have been awarded a number of Academy Awards, click.

Here is an appeal: If you are a investor, i.e., gambler, on Wall Street, please take a gamble on Eastman Kodak. Let's get those share prices up to at least $l.00!

You are Invited to Oscar® Gala with an All Access Pass

Get the All Access Pass for the Oscars®

Movie fans, your “All Access” pass for Oscar Night® is now available on Oscar.com (www.oscar.com/all-access), the official online home of the 83rd Academy Awards®.  This new interactive feature will provide an experience to the online audience during the live Oscar® show never before available.

Beginning at 3:30 p.m. PT, 6:30 ET, Sunday, February 27, all Oscar.com visitors will experience Oscar’s red carpet through multiple camera positions capturing celebrity arrivals, glamorous fashions, and press activity.  During the telecast, users may visit the show’s control truck, check out the backstage “Thank You Cam” at which winners continue their acceptance remarks, and watch and listen as the winners take questions from the world’s press in the interview room.

For a premium Oscar Night experience, users may register ($4.99) for additional, exclusive viewing opportunities.  Multiple “360 cams,” a groundbreaking technology that users control with the click/drag functionality of the computer mouse, will be positioned throughout the red carpet, the Kodak Theatre and the Governors Ball, the Academy’s celebration immediately following Academy Awards.

On the red carpet, users will be able to watch Oscar nominees and presenters mixing and mingling as they enjoy the pre-ceremony champagne reception. Inside the Kodak Theatre, viewers will see the presenters’ hair and makeup area, watch the guests interact during commercial breaks and see the Academy’s official winner portrait area.

The access continues at the Governors Ball, where users will be able see Oscar winners arriving at the party and having their statuettes being affixed with nameplates. Designed to be perfect companion to the Oscar telecast, over the course of the evening, “All Access” users will have the ability to choose from more than 24 strategically placed cameras throughout the venue.

iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can also get their own ultimate insider’s view with the new Oscar Backstage Pass App.  Available for download at the App Store  for $0.99, the Oscar Backstage Pass app includes the same features as “All Access” without the “360 cam” technology. (www.itunes.com/appstore)

Click the title of this post for all the details. 

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. ET.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Win Bleacher Seats for Red Carpet

Beginning Monday, 14 September, anyone can enter a random online drawing to be a fan in the bleacher seats flanking the red carpet at the 82nd Academy Awards®. The Awards ceremony will be held on 7 March 2010, in Hollywood, California, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®.

Registration for this drawing will begin on Monday, 14 September, at noon ET/9 a.m. PT and close on Sunday, 20 September, at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT. Click the title of this post to go to entry page.

281 Feature Films Vie for 2008 Oscar® Nominations

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has certified 281 feature films eligible for the Academy Award® for Best Picture of 2008, and only five will be nominated to compete. Participants in these films are eligible for other Oscar nominations such as Best Director, Best Actress, Best Costumes, etc.

To be eligible for 81st Academy Awards® consideration, feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, 31 December and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days. Feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category.

Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format. See the full list (in .pdf) of 281 films, and read more about the rules, by clicking the title of this post.

The 81st Oscar nominations will be announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Thursday, 22 January 2009, at in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, 22 February 2009, in the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

2008 Oscar® Nomination Ballots Mailed

Ballots for Oscar nominations for the 81st Academy Awards® are being mailed today to the 5,810 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The deadline for ballots, which must be returned to the office of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is 5 p.m. Monday, 12 January. Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted. The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, 22 January, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Nomination and final award ballots are tabulated by PricewaterhouseCoopers to ensure that all aspects of the balloting process are conducted with fairness and accuracy. Prior to mailing, the PricewaterhouseCoopers staff administers a thorough verification process to ensure that there are no duplicate ballots and that none are missing. In addition to being counted and sorted, the ballots are numbered to guarantee that each one is addressed to the appropriate Academy voter.

The 81st Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, 22 February 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.