While platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, etc., still look to be the future of film, this year’s 94th Academy Awards results seem to contradict that narrative as streaming services recorded fewer wins compared to last year.
With just four wins for streaming services this year, things have taken a noticeable decline from last year’s nine awards. This is despite the fact that Apple’s CODA took home the ultimate honor of best picture.
CODA also netted the awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor while Netflix’s The Power of the Dog rounded out the awards for streamers with its director Jane Campion scoring Best Director.
Last year Netflix scored themselves seven Oscars accumulatively with their productions alongside Amazon Prime’s Sound of Metal, which also bagged a couple of awards. But this year, despite The Power of the Dog having 12 nominations the Netflix film only managed to capitalize on a single award.
Streaming platforms have had a stake in the Oscars since 2013 but it wasn’t until 2017 that things began to ramp up. 2021 looked to be even more of a turning point for the industry given the number of awards that streamers scored, but now things have noticeably declined.
While the Oscars may have sidelined the streamers this year, for traditional movie productions streaming has become an incredibly valuable asset, especially during the pandemic era where cinemas were forced to close. Warner Bros. even adopted a novel yet the much-criticized method of releasing its 2021 slate of films — by debuting them in theatres and on HBO Max at the same time.
As things around the world look to get back to normal more movies are returning to cinemas. It remains to be seen how the streaming landscape will evolve over the next twelve months and whether they remain as significant after the threat of the pandemic ebbs away.
