RULES

ELEVENTH ANNUAL

ACADEMY AWARDS OF MERIT

ONE

The Awards Year

The achievements for which the Academy Awards of Merit shall be bestowed must have been in connection with motion pictures first released during the calendar year of 1938 and/ or first publicly exhibited (previews excluded) in the Los Angeles District during the year.

TWO

The Annual Awards

Awards of Merit shall be conferred for the following achievements:

PRODUCTION:	For the most outstanding motion picture of the year.
ACTING:	For the best performance by an actor. For the best performance by an actor in a supporting role. For the best performance by an actress. For the best performance by an actress in a supporting role.
DIRECTING:	For the best achievement in directing.
WRITING:	For the. best written screen play. For the best original motion picture story.
ART DIRECTION:	For the best achievement in art direction.
CINEMATOGRAPHY:	For the best achievement in cinematography of a black and white picture, 80% of the release footage of which must have been photographed in America under normal production conditions.
SOUND RECORDING:	For the best achievement by a studio sound department.
SHORT SUBJECTS:	An Award shall be given jointly for the outstanding productions selected in three classifications: Cartoons, 1,000-foot subjects, subjects between 1,000 and 3,000 feet.
FILM EDITING:	For the best achievement in Film Editing.
MUSIC:	In three classifications for the outstanding achievements in music in connection with motion pictures: (a) Best original score. (b) Best scoring achievement. (c) Best song.

THREE

The Special Awards

Upon recommendation of the Awards Committee, the Academy Board of Governors may bestow Special Awards as follows:

1. SCIENTIFIC OR TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT: For a device, method, formula, discovery or invention of special and outstanding value to the art or science of motion pictures, and actually employed in the motion picture industry during the Awards year. (See Rule 16.)
2. IRVING G. THALBERG MEMORIAL AWARD: “To carry on the ideals represented by Irving G. Thalberg is the privilege of the Academy in sponsoring this Award. It shall be given each year for the most consistent high quality of production achievement by an individual producer, based on pictures he has personally produced during the preceding year. It shall be in the form of a specially designed trophy which will, each year, become the permanent possession of the producer to whom it is awarded.”

   A committee of twelve producers to be appointed by the Academy President shall nominate for this Award. For the final vote ballots shall be sent to all those entitled to vote on the regular Production Award, except Class B members of the Screen Actors Guild.

3. SPECIAL TECHNICAL EFFECTS in the year’s pictures shall be particularly reviewed by the Awards Committee and Special Awards given for such achievements when considered sufficiently outstanding.
4. OTHER SPECIAL AWARDS: For outstanding achievements not strictly within the categories listed in Rule Two. These achievements may be in connection with foreign as well as domestic productions, and are not limited to the Awards year.
5. Special Awards shall be in the form of gold statuette trophies or certificates of honorable mention, or in such other form as the Awards Committee may recommend to the Academy Board of Governors.

FOUR

General Rules

1. Trophies for all general Awards shall be in the form of gold statuettes emblematic of the motion picture profession, except that the trophies for Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Film Editing, Scoring, and Best Song shall be plaques. The Award for Short Subject production shall be a permanent statuette trophy conferred jointly for the three classifications of production, together with individual plaques.
2. Final voting for Awards shall be by secret ballot. Printed forms and ballots shall be supplied by the Academy, and shall be returned unsigned and in sealed envelopes.
3. Ballots shall be opened and counted under the supervision of a firm of Certified Public Accountants designated by the Academy president. This shall be the firm of Price-Waterhouse & Co.
4. The Awards shall be conferred at an Awards Presentation Dinner.
5. In the event that an achievement voted an Award was done in collaboration, each of the collaborators shall receive an Award trophy. An exception to this rule is that the director of a picture may not receive a writing Award as a collaborator.
6. In the nomination vote, except where otherwise specified, the marking and tabulation of all ballots shall be according to the preferential or proportional system used in Academy elections as stated in Article XIII of the Academy By-Laws. No “write-in” votes shall be counted on the final ballots.

FIVE

General Rules for Nominations

1. The Awards Committee shall provide for such meetings, sub-committees and special showings as may be desirable to insure a full and fair consideration of the merits of all eligible achievements.
2. Five nominations shall be made for each Award (unless otherwise specified), but there shall be ten nominations for the Most Outstanding Motion Picture of the Year. In all cases nominations shall be announced and placed on the final ballot in alphabetical order.
3. All nominations shall refer only to the motion picture in which the achievement was made, and not to any individual responsible except in the case of nominations for Acting which name both the individual and the one picture in which the achievement occurred.
4. Performances by an actor or an actress in any leading role shall be eligible for nomination only for the general Awards for acting achievements. Performances by an actor or an actress in any supporting role may be nominated for either the general Best Performance Awards or the Awards for supporting players.

SIX

Special Rules for the Production Award

1. Nomination voting shall be by the preferential system, the ten productions standing highest in the tabulation to be placed on the final ballot.
2. All individuals qualified to vote in the nominations for any other Award and all members of the Academy shall be given nomination and final ballots to determine the Award for the most outstanding motion picture of the year. In the final voting, in addition to the above, ballots shall also be sent to the Class B members of the Screen Actors Guild.

SEVEN

Special Rules for the Acting Awards

1. Only Class A members of the Screen Actors Guild shall be invited to take part in the nomination vote.
2. Ballots for the final Award shall be sent to both Class A and Class B members of the Screen Actors Guild, to Writers, to Senior and Junior Directors, and to Producer and Technician members of the Academy.

EIGHT

Special Rules for the Directing Award

1. All Directors fulfilling the minimum qualifications for Senior membership in the Screen Directors Guild, Inc., shall be invited to take part in the nomination vote.
2. Ballots for the final Award shall be sent to all Senior Directors and Writers, to all other members of the Academy, to Junior members of the Screen Directors Guild and to Class A members of the Screen Actors Guild.

NINE

Special Rules for the Writing Awards

1. All Writers fulfilling the qualifications for active membership in the Screen Writers Guild, Inc., shall be invited to take part in the nomination vote.
2. The balloting for the final Awards shall be conducted in the same way as for the Directing Award.

TEN

Special Rules for the Art Direction Award

1. One picture shall be nominated for this Award from each studio Art Department.
2. Each nomination shall be made by the Supervising Art Director concerned, in consultation with such Art Director members of his department and such of the executive staff of his studio as he may deem fit.
3. The one production to receive the Art Direction Award shall be chosen from those productions nominated in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 above, by a Committee to be known as the “Art-Direction-Award Committee,” which shall consist of nine representatives of the Art Directors’ Section, to be appointed by the President of the Academy.
4. In order that each member of the “Art-Direction-Award Committee” shall judge the Art Direction of all nominated productions upon the same basis, it is specified that each member of the Committee shall view those of the nominated productions which he may not have already seen, at a series of showings to be arranged during the Awards period. In addition to viewing the nominated productions, the Committee may utilize any other means which it may consider necessary in order to arrive at a correct judgment. It is further specified that all voting by the Art-Direction-Award Committee shall be by the “Preferential” system of voting and shall be governed by the regular rules set up for this system of voting.

ELEVEN

Special Rules for the Cinematography Award

1. One picture from each studio shall be nominated for this Award. Each studio’s nomination shall be chosen by that studio’s Photographic staff under the direction of the head of the Camera Department.
2. The one production to receive the Cinematographic Award shall be chosen from those productions nominated in accordance with paragraph (1) above, by a Committee to be known as the “Cinematographic Award Committee,” which shall consist of one representative of the Photographic staff of each studio nominating a production for consideration for the Award.
3. Each studio’s representative. on the “Cinematographic Award Committee” shall be selected by the Photographic staff of that studio, except that any member of the Photographic staff of any nominated production is ineligible to serve on this Committee.
4. In order that each member of the “Cinematographic Award Committee” may judge the photography of all nominated productions upon the same basis, it is specified that the Committee shall view all of the nominated productions at a series of special showings to be arranged during the Awards period. In order to participate in the vote to select the one picture to receive this Award, each member of the Committee must view all of the nominated productions under the same viewing conditions in the same viewing room. It is further specified that all voting by the “Cinematographic Award Committee” shall be by the “Preferential” system of voting and shall be governed by the regular rules set up for this system of voting.

TWELVE

Special Rules for the Sound Recording Award

1. One picture from each studio Sound Department shall be nominated for this Award, each nomination to be made by the Director of the Sound Department concerned.
2. The one production to receive the Sound Recording Award shall be chosen from those productions nominated in accordance with paragraph 1 above, by a Committee to be known as the “Sound Recording Award Committee,” which shall consist of one representative of the Sound Department of each studio nominating a production for consideration for the Award.
3. In order that each member of the Sound Recording Award Committee may judge the recording of all nominated productions upon the same basis, arrangements shall be made for a series of runnings during the Awards period, at which the Committee may view the entire group of nominated productions. It is specified that, to be qualified to vote upon the final selection of the production to receive the Award, each member of the Committee must view all of the nominated productions under the same conditions in the same viewing room. It is further specified that all voting by the Sound Recording Award Committee shall be by the “Preferential” system of voting and shall be governed by the regular rules set up for this system of voting.

THIRTEEN

Special Rules for the Film Editing Award

1. Each film editor in the industry shall be asked to name the five productions which he believes to represent the best editing of the year, listing these productions in the order of preference and including in the list not more than one production for which he himself has been responsible.
2. The five productions receiving the most votes (as determined by the preferential system of counting) shall be considered nominated for further consideration for the Film Editor Award.
3. The one production to receive the Award shall be chosen from the five nominated productions by a Committee to be known as the “Film Editor Award Committee,” consisting of ten film editors, five of whom shall be appointed by the chairman of the Film Editors Section and five by the President of the Society of Motion Picture Film Editors. The membership of this Committee shall be subject to the approval of the general Academy Awards Committee.
4. In selecting the one production to be given the Award, the Committee shall use the personal knowledge of its members as to technical excellence, etc., and in addition shall screen each of the nominated productions and/or utilize any other means which it may consider necessary in order to arrive at a correct judgment.

FOURTEEN

Special Rules for Achievements in Music

1. Best Original Score. Each studio music department shall be invited to nominate the one picture representing the best score with primary emphasis on original composition.
2. Best Scoring. Each studio music department shall be invited to nominate the one picture representing its best scoring achievement of the year without regard to source of the music.
3. Best Song. Each studio music department shall be invited to nominate its best song used for the first time in a motion picture within the Awards year.
4. A vote shall be taken among the professional members of each music department to determine the above nominations.
5. Final ballots shall be sent to all those participating in other final voting, except Class B members of the Screen Actors Guild, with a note that the individual is invited to vote on the Scoring Awards if he feels qualified to do so, and that the Awards are not intended to be limited to musical technicalities but to measure the effectiveness with which the musical score is used to enhance the production.

FIFTEEN

Special Rules for Short Subjects Award

1. Nomination entries shall be submitted in three classifications:
   1. Cartoons and other animation photography of inanimate objects, whether in color or black and white.
   2. Short subjects of 1,000-foot length or less.
   3. Short subjects between 1,000 and 3,000 feet in length.
2. Entries in each classification shall be limited to one subject from a production series, the selection to be made by the producer of the series.
3. Producers entering subjects must arrange to have prints available for screening in Hollywood on a date to be specified.
4. In both nomination and final voting the excellence of the entries shall be judged on the basis of entertainment, originality and production quality, without regard to cost of production or subject matter.
5. A nominating Committee of short subjects producers shall be appointed by the Academy President. This Committee shall review all entries, working as three sub-committees, each of which will review and nominate from one classification only, the members of each sub-committee voting on a different classification of production than they themselves are engaged in.
6. Three subjects shall be nominated in each classification by a majority vote of the sub-committee.
7. The final vote shall be taken at a special exhibition of the nominated subjects before a committee of individuals engaged in feature production, which committee shall include at least one representative of each of the Academy Branches. Academy members and guests may be invited to this exhibition.

SIXTEEN

Rules for Scientific or Technical Awards

Awards for scientific or technical achievement shall be made upon recommendation of the Academy Research Council for a device, method, formula, discovery or invention of special and outstanding value to the art or science of motion pictures, and actually employed in the motion picture industry during the Awards year. This Award shall be known as the “Award of the Research Council of the Academy for Scientific or Technical Achievement.” This Award shall be made in accordance with the following Rules:

1. Any individual organization or company may submit to the Research Council nominations in writing for this Award.
2. The closing date for nominations for this Award shall be noon of February 6, 1939, and consideration of achievements for an Award in this classification shall be limited to those nominated in writing on or before this date.
3. The Research Council shall consider all nominated achievements, and fully acquaint itself as to the merits of each such achievement.
4. The Chairman of the Research Councill shall appoint Committees consisting of representatives of the various professional fields within which nominations are submitted, to assist the Council in appraising the nominations.
5. The Research Council shall recommend to the Academy Awards Committee the person, persons, group and/or corporation on whom an Award shall be bestowed, and the manner in which such recognition shall be accorded.
6. It shall be within the discretion of the Council to recommend no Award, if in their judgment there has been no sufficiently outstanding achievement worthy of recognition in this classification.