81st Academy Awards Key Dates Announced

Today, April 14th, 2008 Academy President Sid Ganis announced that the 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday February 22nd, 2009 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA. ABC will be broadcasting the event.

Key dates are as follows:
Monday, December 1, 2008: Official Screen Credits forms due
Friday, December 26, 2008: Nominations ballots mailed
Monday, January 12, 2009: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, January 22, 2009: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater
Wednesday, January 28, 2009: Final ballots mailed
Monday, February 2, 2009: Nominees Luncheon
Saturday, February 7, 2009: Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation
Tuesday, February 17, 2009: Final polls close 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, February 22, 2009: 81st Annual Academy Awards presentation.

According to various media sources, the only key change is moving the nominees announcement from its usual Tuesday slot to a Thursday. This change took place because of the 2009 Presidential Innauguration.