All the glamour and grandeur does not come for free, especially for the world’s biggest awards ceremony. The cost of the Academy Awards definitely stuns in ostentatiousness and extravagance. With every detail checked into perfection, this is how much money is splashed in to make the Oscars happen.
Venue, Envelopes, Trophy for Oscars
Putting price tags for the venue, envelopes and trophy for the awards night already pushes the expenses’ list up the ceiling. According to Academy of Motion Pictures Annual Report in 2015, the rental cost of the Dolby Theatre, formerly known as the Kodak Theatre, rakes in at about US$349,100, which is much higher compared to the US$285,000 rental in 2014.The theatre, located at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles, California, is rented for weeks before the awards night.
On the other hand, designer Marc Friedland debuted his Oscars envelope and announcement cards in 2011. During its launch, it costs US$200 in 2014 each. Each card is made of gold which weighs 0.25 pounds. Furthermore, Friedland’s team Mashable, revealed that they have worked 110 hours in 2014 to create three sets of envelopes to be used for the Oscars’ 24 categories. A total of 72 envelopes have been used for the awards night, while three announcement cards for every nominee. All in all, a total of 363 cards are used for 121 nominees.
The most coveted trophy of all, the 24-karat plated Oscar statuette, has an estimated value of $ 400 way back in 2011. It weighs 8.5 pounds and it takes three months to manufacture 50 of them.
However, since bronze casting has become more tedious, the award became much more expensive in 2016.
Double The Value: Selling The Oscars
It has been reported that Michael Jackson paid US$1.54 million for the 1939 best picture statuette for “Gone With the Wind.” Another trophy, the 1941 best screenplay Oscar for “Citizen Kane” was sold for over US$500,00 in 2012. Joan Crawford’s statuette for “Mildred Pierce” was auctioned off in 2012 for US$426,732.
Total Cost of One Academy Awards Night
All in all, the price tag of one Oscars awards night amounts to$ 44 Million. This includes the nominees’ luncheon ($260,000), the Governors awards ($865,000), the Governors Ball ($1.8m), and the live show amounting to $21 M- $22 M.
However, despite the millions spent for one show, nothing will ever compare to the fulfillment of owning an Oscar and belonging to this year’s illustrious roster of Academy Award Winners.
