>>Winning "Best Picture" or "Best Actor" wouldn't mean much (have any prestige) if a small committee picked the winner.

I disagree, how many people actually know how many people are involved in nominating or voting for an academy award. I would not think the award any more prestigious if 1000 members all voted as opposed to a committee of a smaller number. In fact depending on who the members of the organization and committee were I might consider the committee to be far more prestigious than the general membership.