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[00:00.18] In the late 1920s, Hollywood producers liked coming here to the fancy Millennium Biltmore Hotel to hold business meetings.

[00:08.67] The story goes that it was here in 1927 that the studio's designer first sketched the outlook of the Oscar Statuette.

[00:17.45] During the preliminary session of planning the Oscars, there were a couple of people in conversation talking about this event.

[00:25.42] And this started to scribble on a napkin and kind of draw a design above what is now the Oscar Statuette.

[00:34.18] No one knows where the historical napkin ended up. Director of Marketing at Biltmore Hotel, Ana Segura, believes that was lost nearly hundred years ago.

[00:44.29] But the Oscar design endured. And in 1929, the first Academy Awards ceremony took place at the Roosevelt Hotel.

[00:52.25] Yet years later, the ceremony moved to where it all began, the Biltmore Hotel.

[00:57.84] This hall hosted the ceremony eight times, though back then, it looked a little different.

[01:03.41] This ballroom originally was built to cater to the Oscars with a grand stage.

[01:13.00] And because of the reconstruction, the hotel went through a renovation, and so they had to downsize the ceiling.

[01:24.70] Pompous receptions, breathtakingly beautiful evening gowns and tuxedos, this was the place to see and be seen in legendary old Hollywood.

[01:34.82] Visitors can still see glimpses of it today on the pictures that adorn the hotel walls.

[01:39.87] This picture, that's the one with Walt Disney and Shirley Temple. The beauty about this picture is the Oscar. It's the most iconic because of the Seven Dwarfs nomination.

[01:50.23] Obviously he got his award, so you have seven little Oscars and then the big Oscar trophy.

[01:55.27] But not just Hollywood stars frequented the Biltmore Hotel.

[01:59.27] During prohibition, the time between 1920 and 1933 when the sale and manufacture of alcohol was illegal, this place drew very different crowds.

[02:09.36] Everyone from gangsters to politicians came here to meet in a secret bar that was hidden behind this wall.

[02:16.53] High name profile ranking officials, whether there were government celebrities, it was a combination of just, you know, highly renowned name people .

[02:28.52] And of course, because of the prohibition era and having such a great time at some point, somebody had to get out and get away, right? And so that was the secret passage.

[02:39.41] Even today, actors and producers love coming here. Jaime has been a barman here for over half a century.

[02:46.07] All this time, he's been collecting autographs, pictures and incredible stories.

[02:51.38] His favorite is about how he met Al Pacino, who decided to take a stroll around the hotel wearing a black cape.

[02:58.28] Mr. Pacino, I almost called securities on you. He said why, because look at you. And he said well, I'm rehearsing a play at Aquinas. Oh my god! So later on, I asked him for his autograph.

[03:12.91] The Academy Award ceremony hasn't been held here for years. Its venue of choices has long been Hollywood's Dolby Theatre.

[03:20.07] But to commemorate the early days of Oscars, every February, a special themed party is held within the walls of the legendary Biltmore Hotel .