Each year the Academy Awards plays a large part in setting
popular culture and history by awarding our favorite actors, movies, and
directors of the year. As Americans we gather at Oscar parties excited to see the
fashion of the red carpet, applaud the winners, and listen to the various acceptance
speeches given by Hollywood’s best.
The average movie lover watching the 86th Academy
Awards tonight will focus on the glitz and glam of the night and not be aware
of all business strategy and economic impacts behind an Oscar nomination and
win.
However business strategies are deeply engrained in the Oscars
and I think it makes the night less enchanting. Instead of being a night
awarding the best of the best without bias, the Academy voters are influenced
by studios’ campaigns, similarly to how political campaigns affect American
voters.
Movie studios recognize what an Oscar nomination and a win
can do for their movies profits. Therefore, studios are willing to spend
millions to promote their movie for both a nomination and hopefully a win. The
graph below shows the amount of money the past six Best Picture Academy Award
winners grossed pre nomination, post nomination, and post award. For all of
these movies, a nomination and a later win increased the film’s revenue by a
significant amount.
The average Oscars campaign cost ranges from $10 million to
$20 million per movie, according to the Washington Post. These campaigns
involve re-releasing films that were released earlier in the year, paying for
ads on TV and in trade papers, inviting academy members and journalists to
attend private screenings at rented theaters, and having actors and directors
interview on a more regular basis.
I believe all this campaigning makes the Oscars less telling
of what society believes to actually be the best of the year. Instead, the Academy
Awards seem more like a competition at who can best promote its product.
I now question whether or not it is campaigns that get films like “American Hustle” nominated in so many categories or if the movie
really earned it the old fashioned way. Kim Serafin, Senior Editor of ‘In Touch
Weekly’, said in an interview with Fox Business that the “American Hustle” cast
has been campaigning a decent amount. And,
this campaign for nominations has already been paying off; the film
has grossed around $144 million in the United States,
with $40 million
of this being made after the nominations were announced on Jan. 16. It
will be interesting to see if the movie succeeds in sweeping the big
categories, such as Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress in a Leading Role,
Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role, and Best Directing. If it does succeed
in winning these big categories, “American Hustle” can expect even more
profits, as was seen with the past six Best Picture winners.
For myself and other movie lovers, knowing the Academy
Awards are influenced by the business of movies instead of just a movie’s
success as a work of culture can be upsetting. I do not want tune into the
Oscars to see what studio spent the most and had the best campaign in promoting
its movies. What I want is to tune in and see who really deserved the golden
statues. When watching the Academy Awards tonight some skepticism about who
really deserves the Oscars should be in the back of everyone’s minds.
Becca Boehringer
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