Why Netflix and Hollywood are spending millions to win the Oscars

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Variety announced last month that campaigns for Oscar-nominated films in multiple categories could cost between $ 20 million and $ 30 million. This may seem like a hefty price for a statue of eight and a half pounds, but winning – or simply being named – can change the fortune of a studio overnight. An Oscar can bring prestige to small studios like A24 and big studios like Disney (DIS) can show that they do not only produce blockbusters – they can also win prizes. But the battle for an Oscar is no longer just a competition between traditional studios. Technology companies like Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) have plunged in recent years to give them a run for their money.

"Everyone has a different agenda for the reason they want to be in the running," New York Times Times reporter Kyle Buchanan told CNN. "It's about preserving someone's reputation or if you're a studio director and you're trying to entice more people to work with you because you've proven that you can create something that is recognized by the pinnacle of this industry. "

Netflix, with its alien status, has been reprimanded for its attempts to disrupt the rules and established order of the film industry.

Now, Netflix is ​​once again in a game played by major studios such as Disney and Warner Bros. spending between $ 25 million and $ 30 million for the campaign of his rival Best Picture, "Roma". The streaming giant is already talking about Hollywood and is one of the most dominant media companies on Earth. Why should Netflix do it?

Like any studio, Netflix can use an Oscar program to attract talent, which it needs to create exclusive content for subscribers. In addition to Best Picture, "Roma" is a nominee for Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

"Alfonso Cuarón, the director of" Roma, "has directed some of the greatest Hollywood movies.The third Harry Potter film," Gravity, "said Buchanan." And so, what Netflix hopes, it's is that if they manage to give him this great launch for "Roma", he will continue to make movies there and that Netflix will somehow tighten his grip on this industry. "Cuarón won the Oscar best director for "Gravity" in 2014.

But there is another reason why Netflix wants to win: he is "eager to disrupt any industry he can get his hands on," according to Buchanan.

Netflix has tried to change the very idea of ​​how the public watches movies by showing their films on their service at the same time as they come out in theaters, or by giving up the theatrical release altogether. This decision angered the industry and movie theater owners, whose activities depend on box office sales and concessions.

The problem with the number of viewers Netflix

Amazon, on the other hand, was able to participate in the Oscar race without much controversy, mainly because it was ready to abide by the rules.

To achieve this, Oscar hopefuls will enjoy a standard 90-day theater release, before adding blockbuster movies like "Manchester by the Sea" to their Prime video service.

But that could soon change. Jennifer Salke, director of Amazon Studios, recently said the studio was considering watching a "variety of windows" to release her films.

An Oscar could change the game for Netflix and, ultimately, for Hollywood, because if the company "can enter this race, there is really nothing that Netflix can do," according to Buchanan.

"They want to change the way you see a movie," he said. "And if they can ask Oscar to validate that, they'll get almost all the way."

Why a small studio wants to win

An Oscar nominee can also improve the results of a studio. According to Dana Polan, a professor in the film studies department at the University of New York, the titles of an appointment or a win mean that a film has legs well after leaving the movie theaters.

"A winning film can always be called a" winner of this or that, "Polan told CNN Business." In Hollywood today, a movie did not exist on its first release. It will exist as a DVD, streaming, etc. "All this will probably include the mention of the Oscar."

Oscar advertising is essential for studios such as A24, specializing in smaller, lower-budget prestige films as the winner of the best picture, "Moonlight". An appointment or a victory can lead to a sharp rise at the box office.

Why is it difficult for Netflix and his friends? to make a break
For example, Fox Searchlight's "The Favorite" drama was multiplied by 1,000 on weekends after being nominated for Best Picture. This led to a jump of 212% at the box office the previous weekend, according to Comscore (SCOR).

"The Shape of Water", which won the Best Film Award last year, saw a 171% increase in box office revenues over the weekend after his appointment.

This windfall might not have been achieved if these films had not been nominated, according to Jeff Bock, a senior box-analyst at Exhibitor Relations, an entertainment research company.
"The case of the case, look at" eighth grade. "It has not been nominated and it's gone now," Bock told CNN Business. "If these small studios are not nominated, this could be the end of the line for some of these titles." With a 99% score on the Rotten Tomatoes review site, the movie on the rise to adulthood won $ 13 million at the box office.

Why a big studio wants to win

But what about Disney or Warner Bros. "Black Panther" and "A Star Is Born" reported $ 1.3 billion and $ 423 million worldwide, respectively. So it's not as if these studios needed the extra attention that a nomination in the Best Film category could bring. Is not money enough as a reward?

Not for the people who make the movies, according to Buchanan.

"The people who work on these films are usually artists who want to be appreciated as artists by other artists in the city," he said. "When they are in the running for an Oscar, it means something deeper – it satisfies them in a way that money can not."

For major studios, it is also important to show a major star like Bradley Cooper that this can be done in both directions at Warner Bros. This also tells other actors in the list of stars that they can play in a billion dollar franchise like "The Hangover". make a passion project like "A star is born" to win prizes.

In other words, it's not so much box office clash as poaching and talent retention.

"Warner Brothers wants Bradley Cooper, who just had this incredibly supple director debut, stays in the lap," said Buchanan. "And if they get these Oscars, then they boast of their rights."

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