The event has been held in October since 2017 and usually takes place at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.
The awards offer prizes in four categories: alternative (experimental film), animation, documentary, and narrative.
Several award winners have gone on to significant achievement as filmmakers, including Robert Zemeckis, Bob Saget, Spike Lee, Trey Parker, Pete Docter and John Lasseter.
[3] Some of the award-winning student films have themselves been nominated for and/or won the Academy Award in the short film categories, including Chicks in White Satin, The Janitor, Karl Hess: Toward Liberty, The Lunch Date, 9, Quiero ser (I want to be...), Gang Cops,[4] The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club,[5] The Red Jacket, On the Line (Auf der Strecke), God of Love, The Confession, 4.1 Miles[6] and Dcera (Daughter).
[7] To extend the impact and honor beyond the competition, a compilation presentation of the gold medal award-winning films is circulated each year free of charge to educational and non-profit organizations nationwide.