SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) - Hollywood has kicked off the 2025 awards season, and the annual monthslong parade of new movie talent both starts and ends with an Oscars ceremony. On Sunday, Nov. 17, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) will hold the Governors Awards, a banquet attended by craftsmen, stars of old and new and the Academy's board of governors. There, the 2025 Honorary Oscars will be distributed. What are the Governors Awards? (L-R) US film editor Carol Littleton, US actor Mel Brooks and US actress Angela Bassett pose with their Academy Honorary Award while US film executive Michelle Satter poses with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 14th Annual Governors Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles on January 9, 2024. (Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images) The Governors Awards are the recognition by the Film Academy for lifetime achievement to artists and craftsmen in front of and behind the screen who make the movies happen. Unlike the main Oscars ceremony held in the spring, there is no competition for the award, usually only four or five people are honored and there is no big, flashy showbusiness flair. The event, created in 2009 as a way of highlighting the lifetime achievement awards away from the competitive ceremony, is a more intimate affair. There are three honors at the Governors Awards: the Honorary Oscar, the Hersholt and the Thalberg. (Original Caption) LOS ANGELES: Comic Charlie Chaplin stands by an Oscar statue after the 44th Annual Academy Awards presentation at the Music Center. Chaplin returned to the United States after 30 years to accept a special award presented to him by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The Honorary Oscar is given to film personnel for their career in movies. It is described by the Academy as "given for extraordinary lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the motion picture arts and sciences of any discipline, or outstanding service to the Academy." It is an award that recognizes the entire body of work, rather than a single competitive performance. Past recipients of the Honorary Oscar include comic actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin (1971), actor Kirk Douglas (1996) and songwriter Diane Warren (2023). Often, the Academy will honor someone who in the past had never won nor been nominated for a competitive Oscar. "Lawrence of Arabia" actor Peter O'Toole received the award in 2003 after being nominated for Best Actor seven times and losing each. "Always a bridesmaid and never a bride, my foot," O'Toole said upon receiving the honor. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, known also as the Hersholt, is "given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities." This award honors those who use their celebrity to advance charitable causes and work to help those in need. The award is named in honor of actor Jean Hersholt, who helped found the Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF). Among the past recipients of the Hersholt are comedian Bob Hope (1959), for his consistent work entertaining U.S. Troops through the United Service Organization (USO), filmmaker Jerry Lewis (2009), for his career as the spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and actress and singer Debbie Reynolds (2016), for her work with The Thalians, a foundation dedicated to mental health causes. The Irving G. Thalberg Award, known also as the Thalberg, is exclusively given to film producers "[whose] body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production." Those who have been presented with this award include Alfred Hitchcock ("North by Northwest", "Psycho") (1968), David Brown ("Jaws", "Driving Miss Daisy") (1991) and Frank Marshall ("Indiana Jones", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?") (1988). Who will receive honors this year? Casting director Juliet Taylor attends the "Perfect Choice: The Art Of The Casting Director" presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , in Beverly Hills, California, on April 13, 2016. / AFP / VALERIE MACON (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)(Original Caption) Quincy Jones, the recording star and arranger is shown in this photograph.LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 19: Richard Curtis attends the "That Christmas" headline gala during the 68th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 19, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images for BFI)LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 15: Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli attend the "Till" UK premiere during the 66th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 15, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI) This weekend, five individuals will be recognized by AMPAS. Honorary Oscars will be presented to casting director Juliet Taylor, whose eye for casting led to memorable performances in "The Exorcist," "Annie Hall" and "Mississippi Burning/" Music icon Quincy Jones, who passed away on Nov. 4, will also receive the honor. The "In the Heat of the Night" and "Color Purple" composer will be the first person to receive the Honorary Oscar posthumously since Audrey Hepburn in 1993. This year's Hersholt will be given to director Richard Curtis, whose films include "Notting Hill," "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Mr. Bean's Holiday." However, it is his efforts as co-founder of Comic Relief, which brings together comedians to raise money for charitable causes, for which he is being honored by the Academy. The Thalberg will be given to Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, producers of the "James Bond" film franchise. Broccoli is the daughter of original "Bond" producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli, who also received this award in 1982. She and Wilson, her half-brother, have overseen every movie in the franchise since "GoldenEye" in 1995. Will the ceremony be televised? The Governors Awards are not broadcast on TV. However, the Academy uploads the presenters' tributes and the recipients' full acceptance speeches on their official YouTube channel, typically the day after the event. Another major difference between the Governors Awards and the Oscars ceremony is that there isn't much show, therefore speeches may be as long as the honoree would like. Spike Lee gave a 17-minute acceptance speech when he received his award without fear of an orchestra playing him off. Director David Lynch, on the other hand, spoke for a mere 56 seconds.