The Academy Awards Season 85 Episode 85

Prior to the ceremony, an estimated 400 visual effects artists staged a protest on Hollywood Boulevard. The artists were protesting what they perceived to be the mistreatment of their industry by the studio system. The event that sparked the protest occurred when Rhythm & Hues visual effects studio, whose work would win the Oscar for Life of Pi, filed for bankruptcy in the weeks before the Oscars. The visual effects industry was also upset when the winners for Best Visual Effects were drowned out by the Jaws theme music and had their microphones shut off during their acceptance speech right as they began speaking about the controversy.

After Papermanwon Best Animated Short Film, the film's producer Kristina Reed began to toss paper airplanes from her balcony seat in the theater's mezzanine level. The show's security briefly extracted Reed from the Theatre for the action.