Loudspeaker (Jan-Aug 1931)

Academy Dinner at Paramount Studio •> Mr. B. P. Schulberg and the officers of the Academy were hosts to a dinner in Paramount’s studio dining room Wednesday night, May 6th. Over a hundred invitees, prospective members of the Academy, were present and in addition the members of all the branch executive committees of the Academy. President Wm. C. deMille of the Academy presided. Mr. deMille said : “History is repeating itself tonight. Four years ago this month a similar group of noted men and women chosen from the five major branches of motion picture production met to found the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Douglas Fairbanks became our first president. “In four years the Academy has grown to be the ‘house of representatives’ of the motion picture industry. Six hundred members — actors, writers, directors, technicians and producers— are now banded together in an established program of conciliation, artistic and technical development and in creating good will and understanding between the public which sees and hears us and ourselves who entertain them. “Among the significant accomplishments of the Academy have been the adoption of the basic agreement between the actors and the producers, the arbitration of many cases requiring adjustment, the solution of technical problems common to all studios when sound came in, the initiation of courses in the cultural appreciation of our art in colleges and universities, the publishing of bulletins, reports and books as aids to artist, the producer and the technician ; the circulation of information to the thousands of inquirers who address our office from all over the world, the entertainment of distinguished visitors to Hollywood. Notable among the latter were dinners the Academy gave to visiting British journalists and to a delegation of foreign journalists representing seventeen different nations. Not the least of our activities has taken the form of numerous addresses by our members and by our staff throughout the United States interpreting the ideals of the Academy and of modern motion picture production to clubs, conventions and educational institutions. Some call this ‘public relations,’ which, after all, is a proper term, for the 100,000,000 Americans who witness our shadows work on the screen are indeed our public relatives who have adopted us into their homes and their lives. Not a little of the good cheer required in these days has been supplied by those who make possible the motion picture and its power to make the individual forget the cares, the worries and the discouragements of the day. Those who do not know us are those who misunderstand us. The cardinal principle of the Academy is therefore conciliation, whether between branches, between individuals or between us all and the public. The Board of Directors has authorized me to say tonight that by their unanimous vote the dues of Academy members have been reduced from $60 to $30 a year immediately effective and that the initiation fee formerly $100 will in the future be $25. This action represents the Board’s faith in our rapidly growing democracy, electing annually a Board of Directors with three representatives from each branch. The reduction in dues is made possible through our growth over four years and evidences the Academy’s desir.e to make it possible for every invitee to join our ranks. With the exception of the Assistant Directors’ Section of the Academy the Board has voted not to elect further associate members and has asked me to express the hope that the reduction Seven