Dolby Theatre
The Kodak Theatre is a live theatre in the Hollywood and Highland entertainment complex on Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.
Since its opening on November 9, 2001, the theatre has been the home of the annual Academy Awards Ceremonies ("The Oscars"), which were first held there in March 2002, and is the first permanent home for the awards.
The theatre was designed specifically with the Oscars in mind. It has a seating capacity for up to 3,400 people and the stage is one of the largest in the United States, measuring 120 feet wide by 75 feet deep. A purpose-built press room behind the stage accommodates up to 1,500 journalists. The theatre was sponsored by the Kodak company, which paid $75 million to have its name associated with the building. It is owned by the city of Los Angeles and rented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar night.
The entrance hall to the Kodak Theatre is flanked by columns displaying winners of the Academy Awards for Best Picture since 1928, with blank spaces left for future Best Picture winners well into the 21st Century.
The rest of the year, there are live concerts with various artists, including Céline Dion, the Dixie Chicks, Elvis Costello, Barry Manilow, and Prince, Broadway musicals, dance shows, symphony performances and opera. Other events have included the AFI Life Achievement Award to Tom Hanks, the ESPY Awards for excellence in sports performance yearly and American Idol finales. In 2005, Nintendo appeared at the Kodak Theatre to promote their latest console, the Wii, before E3 began. It was again rented out to Nintendo in 2006 for their pre-E3 conference. In April 2006, it was home to the Daytime Emmy Awards.