19,500 U.S. High Schools to Receive Academy-Developed Teaching Guides

Beverly Hills, CA — For the ninth consecutive year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has teamed up with curriculum specialists Young Minds Inspired to provide 19,500 high schools across the United States with free instructional guides, this time focusing on costume design and makeup.

The guide, “Costumes and Makeup: Character by Design,” is geared for students in English, language arts, visual arts, science and communication classes, and is designed to encourage critical thinking, expand knowledge of filmmaking and increase overall interest in film and its cultural influence.

Each teaching kit includes a teacher’s guide, activity worksheets in English and Spanish, resource lists, take-home activities, and an Academy Awards® commemorative poster.

The Academy will also provide free supplemental DVDs with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Academy Award® nominees and winners from such films as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001), “Walk the Line” (2005) and “Dreamgirls” (2006) for Costume Design, and “An American Werewolf in London” (1981), “Dick Tracy” (1990) and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) for Makeup. The DVD, produced by the Academy and Acme Filmworks, also involves segments on the Oscar-winning makeup of “Pan’s Labyrinth” and the Oscar-winning costumes of “Marie Antoinette.” Both films earned Academy Awards in 2006.

For additional information about the program and to download about previous years’ teaching guides (animation, art direction, cinematography, documentaries, film editing, screenwriting, sound and music, visual effects) visit the Academy’s Web site at www.oscars.org/teachersguide/.