Young Artist Award

The Young Artist Award (first known as the Youth In Film Award) is an award given by the Young Artist Foundation.  The foundation was started in 1978 to award child actors and singers under the age of 21 for their work in movies, television, theater and music. The foundation also raises money for talented children to go to school.

The 1st Youth In Film Awards were given in October 1979, at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Hollywood for child actors' and singers' work during the years 1978 and 1979.  The 35th Young Artist Awards will be given on May 4, 2014 at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Southern California for child actors' work during the year 2013.

Young Artist Foundation
The Young Artist Foundation is a charity started in 1978 by Hollywood Foreign Press member, Maureen Dragone to raise money for child artists to go to special schools to study acting, singing, or other special arts.  One of the most well known contributors to give money to the Young Artist Foundation is the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

 Young Artist Awards  
 History 
The Young Artist Awards are given every year by the Young Artist Foundation.  The awards were called the Youth In Film Awards for the first 20 years, but the name was changed to the Young Artist Awards for the 21st awards in March 2000.  The awards are sometimes called the "Kiddie Oscars", because many people believe they are like the Academy Awards for children working in Hollywood.

The awards were started by Maureen Dragone in 1979 to award child actors and singers for their work during the years 1978 and 1979 because she thought child actors didn't have a fair chance to win other awards given to adults like the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award.  Two child actors who had to compete with adults for other awards that year were Ricky Schroder in The Champ and Justin Henry in Kramer vs. Kramer.  The awards ceremony was held in November or December for the first 10 years, but the ceremony is now held in March or April.

 Statue 
The first Youth In Film Award was a small statue that looked like a small Academy Award.  It was a statue of a small golden man holding a wreath in front of his chest and he stood on a very large base that looked like a sports trophy.  The new Young Artist Award statue still looks like a small Academy Award, but now the small golden man holds a star over his head and he stands on a much smaller base that is much easier for small children to hold.  All the winners are given the golden statue and all the children who are nominated are given a special plaque at the ceremony to remember their nomination.

 Voting 
The children that the Young Artist Awards considers nominating must be between the ages of 5 and 21 and are first suggested by the child's agent or manager.  Their names must be suggested by the end of January or the middle of February and, one month later, the Young Artist Awards throws a special party to announce the names of the children who they have decided to nominate.  The Youth In Film Awards were originally given to young artists up to the age of 21, but the awards are now given to children under the age of 18 most of the time.

Winners are chosen by the Young Artist Association.  The association was originally called the Hollywood Women's Photo and Press Club and its members were 88 journalists and photographers who worked in the arts.  Today, the Young Artist Association has over 125 members who are journalists, agents, and former child performers.  The winners are picked by The Young Artist Association and past nominees who all vote by secret ballot.

 Categories 
The first Youth In Film Awards gave awards in 11 competitive categories in 1979.  The first categories for child artists were "Best Juvenile Actor and Actress in a Motion Picture", "Best Juvenile Actor and Actress in a TV Series or Special", "Best Juvenile Actor and Actress in a Daytime TV Series", and "Best Male and Female Juvenile Recording Artist".  The Youth In Film Awards also gave awards to studios and networks in competitive categories for family friendly movies and television shows.

Today, the number of categories has grown to award "Best Young Actor and Actress in an International Feature Film", "Best Young Actor and Actress in a Short Film", "Best Young Supporting Actor and Actress in Film", "Best Young Ensemble Cast", "Best Young Recurring Actor and Actress in a TV Series", and "Best Young Guest-starring Actor and Actress in a TV Series".  Many of the categories have been split to award children age 10 and under in their own separate categories.  The Young Artist Awards has also awarded children for their work in other arts over the years, including theater, dance, commercials, journalism, radio and stand-up comedy.

 Special Awards 
While the number of acting categories has grown, some competitive categories like "Best Juvenile Recording Artist", "Best Family Motion Picture" and "Best Family TV Series" are no longer awarded.  The awards for those categories are now given as special "Honorary" awards.  The most well known Young Artist Honorary Awards are the "Jackie Coogan Award", which is given to movie studios, producers or directors for their "Outstanding Contribution To Youth Through Entertainment", and the "Former Child Star Award", which is given as a "Lifetime Achievement Award" to adults who were once child stars.

 Ceremony 
The ceremony is held every year in Hollywood and it is the most formal awards ceremony for child actors.  The child nominees and their parents are expected to "dress up" in suits or party dresses, and many arrive in long cars called limousines.  Reporters and photographers are invited to the red carpet before the show, to take pictures and talk to the child stars when they arrive and sign autographs for fans.  The children picked to announce the winners on stage each year are usually the winners from the year before or from the year's list of nominees.   After the ceremony is a formal dinner and then dancing with live music performed by popular child singers.

The first Youth In Film Awards were given in October 1979 at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Hollywood, California.  Other locations for the ceremony over the years are the Ambassador Hotel's Coconut Grove, the Globe Theatre, the Beverly Garland Hotel, and the Sportsmen's Lodge.

 Youth In Film Awards / Young Artist Awards - Ceremonies Ceremony  Year Honored  Location  City  Date  1st Youth in Film Awards  1978 / 1979  Sheraton Universal Hotel  Universal City  October 1979 2nd Youth in Film Awards  1979 / 1980  Sheraton Universal Hotel  Universal City  October 18, 1980 3rd Youth in Film Awards  1980 / 1981  (Unknown)  (Unknown)  December 1981  4th Youth in Film Awards  1981 / 1982  Sheraton Universal Hotel  Universal City  November 21, 1982 5th Youth in Film Awards  1982 / 1983  Beverly Hilton Hotel  Beverly Hills  December 4, 1983 6th Youth in Film Awards  1983 / 1984  (Unknown)  (Unknown)  December 2, 1984 7th Youth in Film Awards  1984 / 1985  Ambassador Hotel  Los Angeles  December 15, 1985 8th Youth in Film Awards  1985 / 1986  Ambassador Hotel  Los Angeles  November 22, 1986 9th Youth in Film Awards  1986 / 1987  Hollywood Palladium  Hollywood  December 5, 1987 10th Youth in Film Awards  1987 / 1988  (Unknown)  (Unknown)  May 6, 1989 11th Youth in Film Awards  1988 / 1989  (Unknown)  (Unknown)  March / April 1990 12th Youth in Film Awards  1989 / 1990  (Unknown)  (Unknown)  Late 1990 / Early 1991 13th Youth in Film Awards  1990 / 1991  Academy of Television Arts & Sciences  North Hollywood  December 1, 1991 14th Youth in Film Awards  1991 / 1992  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  January 16, 1993 15th Youth in Film Awards  1992 / 1993  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  February 5, 1994 16th Youth in Film Awards  1993 / 1994  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  March 19, 1995 17th Youth in Film Awards  1994 / 1995  (Unknown)  (Unknown)  1996 18th Youth in Film Awards  1995 / 1996  (Unknown)  (Unknown)  1997 19th Youth in Film Awards  1996 / 1997  (Unknown)  (Unknown)  March 14, 1998 20th Youth in Film Awards  1997 / 1998  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  March 6, 1999 21st Young Artist Awards  1998 / 1999  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  March 19, 2000 22nd Young Artist Awards  1999 / 2000  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  April 1, 2001 23rd Young Artist Awards  2000 / 2001  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  April 7, 2002 24th Young Artist Awards  2002  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  March 29, 2003 25th Young Artist Awards  2003  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  May 8, 2004 26th Young Artist Awards  2004  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  April 30, 2005 27th Young Artist Awards  2005  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  March 25, 2006 28th Young Artist Awards  2006  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  March 10, 2007 29th Young Artist Awards  2007  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  March 30, 2008 30th Young Artist Awards  2008 Globe Theatre  Universal City  March 29, 2009 31st Young Artist Awards  2009  Beverly Garland Hotel  Studio City  April 11, 2010 32nd Young Artist Awards  2010  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  March 13, 2011 33rd Young Artist Awards  2011  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  May 6, 2012 34th Young Artist Awards  2012  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  May 5, 2012 35th Young Artist Awards  2013  Sportsmen's Lodge  Studio City  May 4, 2014

 References 

 Other websites 

  Young Artist Awards photographs at LIFE.com

Category:Entertainment awards