The first Academy Awards ceremony was not a televised spectacle, but a private dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for 270 guests. Tickets cost just $5 (roughly $90 today), and the actual presentation of the awards lasted only 15 minutes. Unlike today's intense secrecy, the winners had been announced to the press three months in advance. The event was created by MGM head Louis B. Mayer as a way to unite the five branches of the industry (actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers) and to help manage labor disputes. The first Best Picture winner (then called 'Outstanding Picture') was the silent war epic 'Wings,' which remains the only silent film to win the top prize until 'The Artist' did so in 2012.