The
Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the
Academy Awards of Merit presented annually since the awards debuted in 1929, by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to
producers working in the
film industry and is the only category in which every member is eligible to submit a nomination. The actors or actresses in the film will not accept this award unless he or she produced the film. Best Picture is considered the most important of the Academy Awards, as it represents all the directing, acting, music composing, writing, editing and other efforts put forth into a film . Best Picture is the final award at every Academy Awards ceremony. The Grand Staircase columns at the
Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where the Academy Awards ceremonies have been held since 2002, showcase every film that has won the Best Picture title since the award's inception. As of the
88th Academy Awards nominations, there have been 528 films nominated for the Best Picture award.