By turning up the heat on Netflix, Wall Street’s reshaping how the streamer moves forward, which could chill its expensive efforts to win Oscars.
For years, Netflix has attracted A-List filmmakers by dangling in front of them not just gold, but Oscar gold, too. By committing to give top filmmakers spare-no-expense production money & costly awards marketing, Netflix countered those boldface names’ reluctance to make movies for viewing at home rather than in theatres.
With skilled in-house awards marketers and robust budgets to spend, Netflix has had many top Oscar contenders — like Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA (10 noms in 2019), Martin Scorsese’s THE IRISHMAN (pictured – 10 noms in 2020), David Fincher’s MANK (10 noms in 2021) & Jane Campion’s THE POWER OF THE DOG (12 noms in 2022). They were all frontrunners, but none of them won the best picture. Until this year — when Apple TV+ won for CODA — the media always explained that no streamer had ever won Oscar’s top prize.
Looking ahead, Netflix will likely find a way to get back in the Street’s good graces — perhaps by running ads, releasing some films for limited theatrical runs, streaming live sports, adding video games & squeezing the last dollar out of passwords. But its wildly expensive Oscar game now seems less important to its future.