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 After upending television with acclaimed online series,
Amazon and Netflix joined the ranks of the film industry's
elites with four gold statuettes between them.
Amazon Studios, a unit of e-commerce giant Amazon.com, scored a
best actor trophy for Casey Affleck's portrayal of a grieving
man in "Manchester by the Sea." The movie also won best original
screenplay.
Amazon's other accolade came for best foreign language film for
Iranian drama "The Salesman," which Amazon distributed in the
United States and Canada.
Netflix triumphed in the documentary short-subject category for
40-minute film "The White Helmets," a look at rescue workers in
war-torn Syria.
But A24, a small independent studio founded in 2012, won the
most prestigious award of the night with its best picture Oscar
for "Moonlight," a drama about a gay black youth coming to terms
with his sexuality in an impoverished Miami neighborhood.
The movie was produced for $1.5 million, a tiny budget by
Hollywood standards.
The filmmakers thanked A24 for taking a chance on the
coming-of-age tale.
"It was outside the model of what a movie should be, in terms of
return on investment," producer Jeremy Kleiner told reporters
backstage. The Oscar victory "hopefully creates some incentives
to make movies like this," he said.
"Moonlight" had brought in $22.3 million in domestic ticket
sales through Sunday, the smallest take among the best picture
nominees, according to comScore data.
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Oscar recognition can boost theater, DVD and digital sales for the
winning films. Last year's best picture honoree, "Spotlight," took
in $5.9 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters after the award,
comScore said.
For Amazon and Netflix, the accolades provide bragging rights they
can use in marketing to help win customers to their subscription
video services.
"It will make them a must-subscribe destination for film fans," said
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore.
Amazon paid $10 million for "Manchester by the Sea" at the Sundance
film festival. The movie has earned $46.8 million at domestic
theaters, and will appear later this year on Amazon's Prime Video
service.
Among all studios, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp <LGFa.N> took home
the most trophies including six wins for musical romance "La La
Land" and two for "Hacksaw Ridge." Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> won four
including best animated feature for "Zootopia" and best documentary
for ESPN's "O.J.: Made in America."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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