| Hollywood was on the cusp of some major changes by the late 1920s. The advent of the technology that produced "talkies" such as 1927's The Jazz Singer was certainly one of them, but more concerning to MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer was the encroaching threat of unionized labor. Mayer subsequently oversaw the 1927 launch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit created to mediate wage disputes and provide favorable promotion for the movie industry; it soon also oversaw side projects such as a celebration of stars with "awards of merit for distinctive achievement." The first such celebration took place at the end of a black-tie banquet on May 16, 1929, before 270 guests in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Among the familiar features of this ceremony was a host (in this case, Academy president Douglas Fairbanks) announcing the winners of such categories as Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography. Noticeable differences included the lack of sound feature films for consideration — The Jazz Singer won a special award for "pioneer outstanding talking picture" — and two winners each for Best Picture and Best Direction. There was also zero suspense baked into the evening, as the winners had already been revealed three months earlier. Absent the sort of long-winded speeches that require an orchestra to keep things moving, the entire ceremony lasted a tidy 15 minutes. Even as Hollywood braced for more turmoil following the October 1929 stock market crash, the Academy moved forward with its second awards ceremony on April 3, 1930. This time, the winners were unknown until announced on stage (save for the newspapers, which were clued in to prepare for evening editions). And this time the event was broadcast on the radio, a big step toward turning what was initially a private party into the major public gala that would mark the biggest night on the Hollywood calendar. | 
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