LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 14 scientific and technical achievements, represented by 37 individual award recipients, will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony, which has been rescheduled to Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

“As part of the Academy’s mission to celebrate artistry and innovation in filmmaking, we are honored to recognize the exceptional contributions of this year’s Scientific and Technical Awards recipients. Their work has powerfully driven advancements in our industry,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang. “Also, we are deeply honored to present the Academy Award of Merit to the individuals who created and supported the development of captioning for films. This is an essential technology that plays a vital role in making the cinematic experience accessible to all.”

“Each year, our international committee of industry professionals conducts thorough evaluations of the innovation and impact of technologies developed for the motion picture industry,” added Darin Grant and Raymond Yeung, co-chairs of the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. “This year’s awards encompass a wide range of film production advancements, from fire stunt safety, stabilized hand-held camera operation, and animation to post-production innovations in dialogue capture and CG imagery rendering systems. These vital technologies have expanded the visual possibilities of cinema, creating new and compelling experiences for moviegoers.”

The Academy stressed that achievements receiving Scientific and Technical Awards must demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.

In addition to the other Awards, an Academy Award of Merit (an Oscar statuette) will be presented at the ceremony to collectively recognize “all the individuals who have developed and supported captioning technology, whether open or closed, for film.” The statuette will reside at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS (ACADEMY CERTIFICATES):

• To Essex Edwards, James Jacobs, Jernej Barbic, Crawford Doran and Andrew van Straten for the design and development of Ziva VFX. Ziva VFX is a system for constructing and simulating muscles, fat, fascia, and skin for digital characters. An artist-friendly interface that emphasizes easily understood physical metaphors, coupled with a robust, physically accurate solver, has enabled a broad range of studios to bring visually rich creatures to life.
• To Javor Kalojanov and Kimball Thurston for the creation of Wētā FX’s ML Denoiser. This denoiser prioritizes temporal filtering using innovative optical flow techniques to preserve crucial details. Novel training strategies allow its machine learning algorithms to denoise computer-generated imagery to the most exacting standards.
• To Neeme Vaino for the development of Fireskin360 Naked Burn Gel. This widely available gel allows longer targeted burns directly on the skin, broadening the range of fire stunts performed across the industry.
• To Dustin Brooks and Colin Decker for the development of naked burn gel. Fire for Hire’s gel first publicly demonstrated a “naked burn,” where fire appears directly on the skin, enabling a new form of safe fire stunts in motion pictures.
• To Attila T. Áfra for the creation of Intel Open Image Denoise, and to Timo Aila for his pioneering work at NVIDIA applying U-Nets to denoising. Open Image Denoise is an open-source library that provides an elegant API and runs on diverse hardware, leading to broad industry adoption. Its core technology is provided by the widely adopted U-Net architecture that improves efficiency and preserves detail, raising the quality of CG imagery across the industry.
• To Mark Noel for adapting and enhancing the safety and reliability of transportable six-degrees-of-freedom motion base technology for motion picture use. The NACMO series of modular motion bases enables filmmakers to dynamically control simulated actions, providing precise movements, enhancing special effects, and enriching the visual experience for audiences worldwide.
• To Su Tie for the development of the sensor analysis and stabilization software, to Bei Shimen for the electrical engineering, and to Zhao Yanchong for the mechanical design and engineering of the Ronin 2 gimbal system. Utilizing three-axis stabilization through multiple sensors, the DJI Ronin 2 has achieved broad adoption. It is controllable from a diverse set of input devices, enabling filmmakers to create complex, dynamic camera moves.
• To Tabb Firchau for the conception and development, to John Ellison and Steve Webb for the attitude control system, to David Bloomfield for the motor design, and to Shane Colton for the motor driver system design of the Mōvi gimbals. Freefly Systems’ introduction of handheld stabilized gimbals provides single-person or collaborative remote camera operation with various controllers, enabling previously difficult shots without dolly or crane-supported stabilized heads.

SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING AWARDS (ACADEMY PLAQUES):

• To Jayson Dumenigo for the development of the Action Factory Hydrogels. Action Factory hydrogels are engineered to allow longer burns at higher temperatures with quick turnaround times, increasing the safety and efficiency of fire stunt performances.
• To Thijs Vogels, Fabrice Rousselle, David Adler, Gerhard Röthlin and Mark Meyer for the creation of Disney’s ML Denoiser. This sophisticated machine learning denoiser features a ground-breaking kernel-predicting convolutional network and temporal stability. It has been adopted far beyond its original domain of animation and is an essential tool for creating computer-generated imagery in feature films.
• To Nir Averbuch, Yair Chuchem and Dan Raviv for the concept, design and development of the Auto Align Post 2. Sound Radix’s Auto Align Post 2 allows the seamless blending of multiple moving microphones during film post-production, eliminating phase distortion, saving significant time over manual alignment methods and raising the reproduction quality of dialogue recorded on set.
• To Curt Schaller for the concept, design and development of the Trinity 2 system, and to Dr. Roman Foltyn for the software and hardware design of its motorized stabilized head. The ARRI Trinity 2 is a body-worn system that combines a traditional inertial camera stabilization system with electronic gimbal technology, allowing unprecedented freedom of camera movement for acquiring shots with multiple transitions that are otherwise unobtainable.
• To Steve Wagner for the initial concept and software, to Garrett Brown for the design, and to Jerry Holway and Robert Orf for the engineering of the Steadicam Volt stabilization system. The Tiffen Steadicam Volt revolutionizes inertial stabilization with its advanced two-axis motorized design, creating artificial inertia and simulated friction while providing adjustable tactile feedback. Different modes allow the operator to alter the physical feel of the rig. The Volt empowers filmmakers to achieve dynamic shots with more complex camera movement while maintaining a stable roll axis.
• To Dave Freeth for the design, engineering and development of the hand-held Stabileye three-axis motorized camera stabilization system. The compact size and live adjustment of operating parameters of these devices facilitate subtle and dynamic camera moves closer to actors, and in tighter quarters than previously possible. Its low latency allows for instinctive operation whether controlled by a single operator or remotely.

Producers of last night's telecast of the 96th annual Academy Awards pulled off the almost impossible task of ending the usual marathon-length show on time at 10:30 p.m. The tightly choreographed gala started earlier than usual—7:00 p.m. ET—on ABC, because of (according to the Academy, at least) Daylight Savings Time. 

While most of the winners were predictable, the show did its best to keep audiences in the Dolby Theater and at home entertained with producers determined to defy the critics who complain every year about the show’s length, (the longest Oscars telecast was in 2002, clocking in at four hours and 23 minutes). 

Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling performed showstoppers from “Barbie,” with Eilish taking home the trophy for “What Was I Made For.” However when it came to the rivalry that was marketed and hyped as “barbenheimer” last summer, Oppenheimer (predictably) had already won when nominations were announced, and it confirmed its artistic dominance by capturing seven of its 13 nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor to Robert Downey Jr.—surprisingly his first—after two previous nominations. 

Early data from AdImpact indicates that viewership for last night’s Oscars peaked at 20 million around 9:30 p.m. ET when Ryan Gosling performed `I’m Just Ken’ according to AdImpact. 

The majority of viewership took place on linear television (67%), followed by streaming (19%), YouTube TV (12%) and YouTube (2%), AdImpact said. 

Host Jimmy Kimmel returned for what is perhaps the most unforgiving job in Hollywood as the show’s host, keeping politics and controversy at a minimum, particularly as the show continues to lengthen its distance from the disastrous 2022 Oscars which saw Will Smith assaulting host Chris Rock. 

But given the world (and domestic) events of the past 12 months, that was going to be impossible. Both the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza were mentioned in numerous speeches (and in at least one powerful commercial from the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism). 

And of course, this being an election year, Kimmel couldn’t resist after presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump ranted about Kimmel’s performance on his Truth Social network. Kimmel read the tweet (or whatever they’re called), responding with “Isn’t it past your jail time?” 

The show also gave long overdue recognition to stunt actors with Gosling and Emiiy Blunt paying homage to the “unsung heroes who risk life and limb for the cinema.” 

Perhaps the most meme-worthy moment came early in the broadcast when the Oscars attempted to commemorate a little bit of history by recognizing the 50th anniversary of another famous controversial moment in 1974. That broadcast was briefly interrupted by a man in the buff running across the stage, in what was the popular fad of “streaking” at the time (and eliciting what is arguably the wittiest ad lib in the history of the show’s broadcasts from English actor David Niven… look it up).

John Cena, professional wrestler, author and star of the new Amazon Prime series “Ricky Stanicky,” reluctantly appeared on stage in his birthday suit wearing nothing but the winner’s envelope for Best Costume Design and perhaps doing his best to help the Oscars “break the internet” for one brief moment. 

Last year's actors and writers strike was acknowledged early in the telecast. Although the work stoppage ended last November, contract negotiations between studios and technical workers are about to get underway, to which Kimmel declared his support: “Know that in your upcoming negotiations we will stand with you.” Since most movies were already in the can or post prior to last year’s strikes, the walkouts had little to no visible effect on last night’s nominations but the impact could be felt for a number of coming years.

DENVER—The big winner from this year’s Academy Awards may not be anyone taking home a trophy, but the growing idea that streaming is carving out its place in TV viewing; that’s the big takeaway from a new report from Adtaxi, “Streaming the Oscars.”

The results from the national survey indicate that streaming of the Oscars is expected to increase by 28 percent from last year. Even with those that are planning on watching through traditional TV or cable, 59 percent are planning to use a secondary channel to consume related content, whether it be from social media platforms, entertainment websites or apps.

['The Oscars: All Access' to be Live Streamed By Facebook]

“More consumers than ever before are streaming popular television events digitally and an even larger population is engaging with additional media sources while they watch,” said Chris Loretto, Adtaxi executive vice president. “This means with a strategic, targeted, multi-platform approach, digital advertisers have greater opportunities to capitalize on these programs to reach key audiences with relevant content. Not to mention, viewers are afforded more control and flexibility to watch when they want, how they want.”

Additional findings among the survey showed that social media (77 percent) is the most popular additional media content that people will use while watching the award show. The largest age group that is likely to view additional content is 18- to 29-year olds at 68 percent. Also, women are 34 percent more likely to use additional media during award shows then men.

The 2018 Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 4.

BURBANK, CALIF.—Before the first envelope is handed out at the Oscars this year—hopefully the correct one this time—fans can watch the stars arrive on the red carpet on Facebook. For the second year in a row, “The Oscars: All Access” will be live streamed by Facebook, with the content available on The Academy’s show page on Facebook Watch, The ABC Television Network Facebook page, Oscar.com and ABCNews.com.

The show is produced by the Academy and ABC, and with the live stream from Facebook it will offer viewers red carpet, backstage and audience footage, as well as live “look-ins” on the Oscar telecast. Additional features for those watching the live stream may include a digital autograph from stars on the red carpet; viewers can engage in conversation on the Oscars Movie Club page on Facebook; and the Academy show page on Facebook Watch will share special “The Oscars Insider” content leading up to the ceremony.

[Facebook to Live Stream Golden Globes Red Carpet]

“The Oscars: All Access” will be hosted by Sofia Carson, Chris Connelly, Ben Lyons, Andan Kirk and Wesam Keesh. The live stream will begin at 6:30 p.m ET on Sunday, March 4.

The 2017 live stream of “The Oscars: All Access” won an Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Within an Unscripted Program.

The 90th Academy Awards will air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET on March 4.