Both the winners and losers shed tears on Oscar’s night! Winner for getting fruits for the money he spent on the publicity and losers for losing everything, the money and the glory. It may look odd when we see the insight of the Oscars, how the process goes about. It is sorry to know that awards are not genuinely given for the artistic work but the publicity stunt every filmmaker does. So it need not be the case that every movie that won Oscar is good and appealing to the common public. Advertising and marketing gimmicks are awarded on the Oscars night not exactly the films.
Hollywood publicist Michael Levine says, "Advertising, interviews, and any kind of brand-building editorial is essential to reach the 40,000 to 50,000 people who drive the nomination process." He also suggests movie stars participate in charity events which lend themselves to publicity as another vehicle to build awareness for who they are and what they represent.
Hollywood publicist Michael Levine says, "Advertising, interviews, and any kind of brand-building editorial is essential to reach the 40,000 to 50,000 people who drive the nomination process." He also suggests movie stars participate in charity events which lend themselves to publicity as another vehicle to build awareness for who they are and what they represent.
Major studios shell out $15-20 million on Oscar campaigns, according to the Ad Age. Publicity and marketing play huge role in who gets noticed and for that popular studios pour millions of dollars into Oscar’s campaign. Marketing firms and people who are behind some of the winning movies are: Tony Angellotti of The Angellotti Company was behind the Shakespeare in Love and Seabiscuit campaigns. Michele Robertson of MRC helped Hilary Swank to get her Oscar for Boys Don't Cry. Longtime publicist David Horowitz worked on In the Bedroom, Chocolat and The Hours.
A subdivision of Disney, Miramax ran ads on “Amelie” much before the nominations are announced. Twentieth Century Fox has been touting hard for “Moulin Rouge”. Need not to add both won accolades! The master of the Oscar marketing campaign is Miramax. Miramax always picks up small budget movies but ensures they get good reviews in the media. For instance, Life is Beautiful, Shakespeare in Love, Good Will Hunting and Pulp Fiction are few to name. It advertises about the quality of the movie and cashes at box office citing multiple Oscar nominations. The company is so obsessed with Oscars it sends copies of its movie to every single Academy member so that he can watch and film is noted in his mind. Between 1993 and 2004, Miramax amassed 220 Academy Award nominations, winning 3 Best Pictures and 53 total Oscars, and the company’s canny marketing efforts produced 11 films that grossed over $100 million domestically.
Shelling money on campaign is always a tradition at Oscars. Orion has spent $325,000 on campaigning “The Silence of the Lambs”. Disney nearly spent $1million, on Beauty and Beast and The Rocketeer, and Columbia about $900,000 for The Prince of Tides, City Slickers, Boyz N the Hood according to media reports. Columbia bought at least 24 pages of pre-nomination trade ads for Boyz N the Hood. According to trade magazine Variety, Oscars campaign for “No Country for Old Men” cost $15million. LA Times estimates say that “Million Dollar Baby”, “Saving Private Ryan”, and “Shakespeare in Love” probably spent $15millionn each on campaigning. The Most expensive Oscars campaign was for “Gladiator” about $20million as per the unofficial estimates. This year Paramount’s investments on Oscars campaign for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” exceed $10million reported LA Times.
Not many studios have that much of money so they try to appear more on talk shows and trade magazines. Oscar campaign contains big paid-media component advertising in film trade newspapers aimed at movie professionals. The early morning network magazine shows – ABC television’s Good Morning America, CBS Television’s The Early Show, NBC’s Today are prominent booking opportunities.
It is easy to make a movie but not that easy to get the Oscars, that too if you have to please at least 5800 voting members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), who live in Los Angeles and New York City. As a part of campaign the film maker has to organise a private screening for academy members, events such as cocktail parties with film makers and cast, direct mail and ad campaigns in newspapers. All these events cost around $200,000 to $3million according to trade pundits.
If the filmmaker could able to create right euphoria before the film hits the theatre it attracts both the public and critics alike. An outdoor billboard is not just for the general public but also targets the voter. Two important Newton’s Laws as far as Oscars are concerned, firstly, release the picture in later part of the year i.e., between September and November, so that it is fresh in the minds of the academy voters. Secondly, always send the movie to some other festival to get right mood and momentum for the Oscars. Getting LA’s film critic award, New York film critic award will pave the way to Oscars. Especially, the Golden Globe award that indicates which movie is going to be the best film at Oscars. Invariably all the movies that won Oscars have won the Golden Globe award baring one or two.
Internet site Awards Heaven usually runs an accurate list of who’s gotten what. Similarly The Hollywood Reporter and Variety and Entertainment Weekly predict almost correctly the winners. Because that’s where the studios spend their money! They spend up to $10 million for print, TV and radio awards campaigns, including full page ads in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, targeting the cities where most academy voters live. Studios dump the voters with lavish presents and DVD screeners.
Oscar awards are a combination of popularity, box office, artistic achievement, luck, sentimentality, bribes, and most importantly, marketing. Once the movie is nominated for the Oscars, there is no going back. Movies make quick bucks at box-office. After the Oscar nominations were announced this year, “Frost/Nixon” has grossed $5.3million; “The Reader”, $4.4million; and “Milk”$2.7million according to trade sources.
So next time when you watch Oscars on TV sitting in your living room, just remember how much publicity and marketing goes behind it!
A subdivision of Disney, Miramax ran ads on “Amelie” much before the nominations are announced. Twentieth Century Fox has been touting hard for “Moulin Rouge”. Need not to add both won accolades! The master of the Oscar marketing campaign is Miramax. Miramax always picks up small budget movies but ensures they get good reviews in the media. For instance, Life is Beautiful, Shakespeare in Love, Good Will Hunting and Pulp Fiction are few to name. It advertises about the quality of the movie and cashes at box office citing multiple Oscar nominations. The company is so obsessed with Oscars it sends copies of its movie to every single Academy member so that he can watch and film is noted in his mind. Between 1993 and 2004, Miramax amassed 220 Academy Award nominations, winning 3 Best Pictures and 53 total Oscars, and the company’s canny marketing efforts produced 11 films that grossed over $100 million domestically.
Shelling money on campaign is always a tradition at Oscars. Orion has spent $325,000 on campaigning “The Silence of the Lambs”. Disney nearly spent $1million, on Beauty and Beast and The Rocketeer, and Columbia about $900,000 for The Prince of Tides, City Slickers, Boyz N the Hood according to media reports. Columbia bought at least 24 pages of pre-nomination trade ads for Boyz N the Hood. According to trade magazine Variety, Oscars campaign for “No Country for Old Men” cost $15million. LA Times estimates say that “Million Dollar Baby”, “Saving Private Ryan”, and “Shakespeare in Love” probably spent $15millionn each on campaigning. The Most expensive Oscars campaign was for “Gladiator” about $20million as per the unofficial estimates. This year Paramount’s investments on Oscars campaign for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” exceed $10million reported LA Times.
Not many studios have that much of money so they try to appear more on talk shows and trade magazines. Oscar campaign contains big paid-media component advertising in film trade newspapers aimed at movie professionals. The early morning network magazine shows – ABC television’s Good Morning America, CBS Television’s The Early Show, NBC’s Today are prominent booking opportunities.
It is easy to make a movie but not that easy to get the Oscars, that too if you have to please at least 5800 voting members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), who live in Los Angeles and New York City. As a part of campaign the film maker has to organise a private screening for academy members, events such as cocktail parties with film makers and cast, direct mail and ad campaigns in newspapers. All these events cost around $200,000 to $3million according to trade pundits.
If the filmmaker could able to create right euphoria before the film hits the theatre it attracts both the public and critics alike. An outdoor billboard is not just for the general public but also targets the voter. Two important Newton’s Laws as far as Oscars are concerned, firstly, release the picture in later part of the year i.e., between September and November, so that it is fresh in the minds of the academy voters. Secondly, always send the movie to some other festival to get right mood and momentum for the Oscars. Getting LA’s film critic award, New York film critic award will pave the way to Oscars. Especially, the Golden Globe award that indicates which movie is going to be the best film at Oscars. Invariably all the movies that won Oscars have won the Golden Globe award baring one or two.
Internet site Awards Heaven usually runs an accurate list of who’s gotten what. Similarly The Hollywood Reporter and Variety and Entertainment Weekly predict almost correctly the winners. Because that’s where the studios spend their money! They spend up to $10 million for print, TV and radio awards campaigns, including full page ads in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, targeting the cities where most academy voters live. Studios dump the voters with lavish presents and DVD screeners.
Oscar awards are a combination of popularity, box office, artistic achievement, luck, sentimentality, bribes, and most importantly, marketing. Once the movie is nominated for the Oscars, there is no going back. Movies make quick bucks at box-office. After the Oscar nominations were announced this year, “Frost/Nixon” has grossed $5.3million; “The Reader”, $4.4million; and “Milk”$2.7million according to trade sources.
So next time when you watch Oscars on TV sitting in your living room, just remember how much publicity and marketing goes behind it!
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