The Oscars, or as others like to call it; the night where rich people dress up to give each other trophies, has passed us for another year and already, people can’t stop talking about it on social media.

This movie deserved to win, this actor/actress was robbed of her award and really, why was that movie even nominated? 

You’d think that a movie simply entertaining audiences and earning its budget back with a little extra was enough of an award but in the past couple of decades, awards like the Golden Globes and the Oscars began to determine a movie’s success. We’d like to think that movies like Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book and Black Panther won their Oscars based on artistic merits alone but this is often not the case.

In the mid ’90s, major movie studios started to see the effectiveness of advertising through print and television, so they started using their own advertisements to attract the attention of award voters, they called them ‘For Your Consideration Campaigns’; unfortunately, this tactic worked a little too well.

Movie studios can spend upwards to $10-million dollars per campaign, taking voters out for expensive meals, trips to Vegas, nominees visiting their homes and pretty much doing everything they can think of to set themselves apart. This has become such an open secret in the industry that both Denzel Washington and Ricky Gervais have made jokes about it on-air during their Golden Globes’ speeches.

This year alone, Netflix reportedly spent more than $25-million dollars on their campaign for Roma, making it the most expensive Oscar campaign in history.

But, in the end, all this campaigning seems to actually work in the long-run as in many cases, a simple nomination could mean an extra $20-million at the box office and a win could possibly garner more than $35-million. 

There have even been cases where a flopped movie made its money back, simply because they earned a nomination. Classic movies like Shawshank Redemption, The Remains of the Day and even The Wizard of Oz are examples of this.

Sure, quality can matter when it comes to movies but, in the end, if the studios don’t campaign, then they’re going to lose out on a lot of market. While it doesn’t guarantee a win, this practice does just make good business sense.

Kory Glover