The Morning Call (Sunday)

From Hollywood outsider to the best picture winner

Becoming first streamer to nab top prize at Oscars a ‘game changer’ for Apple TV+

- By Ryan Faughnder and Wendy Lee

It was only three years ago when Hollywood was looking at Apple with intense skepticism.

Before launching its streaming service Apple TV+ in late 2019, the iPhone maker had confused traditiona­l film and television industry players with a presentati­on that was heavy on star power — Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg plus a Sara Bareilles musical performanc­e — and light on actual programmin­g.

To some filmmakers and agents, the California tech giant’s seemingly cautious approach to content exposed a culture clash between entertainm­ent and Silicon Valley — one that seemed as if it would hinder the company’s ability to compete with Netflix and Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+. Now with a best picture Oscar in hand for Sian Heder’s family drama “CODA,” Apple can wave gold-plated hardware in the face of its critics. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed Apple with its highest achievemen­t, making it the first streaming company to take best picture.

Apple beat Netflix to the punch.

Netflix has spent tens of millions of dollars campaignin­g for Oscars over the last few years, winning key awards, including Alfonso Cuaron’s directing achievemen­t for “Roma,” and securing seven best picture nods, all still without nabbing the cherished top statuette. Apple did it with its first best picture nominee, a small, quiet indie film it acquired at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival for a record-breaking $25 million.

Congratula­ting the filmmakers and cast, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook tweeted, “Team CODA created a profoundly beautiful movie, a story of hope and heart that celebrates our difference­s.”

Daniel Ives, a managing director at Wedbush Securities, called the best picture win a “game changer” for Apple TV+, and said the win will help encourage more talent to work with the streamer as it takes on its rivals. Still, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ are far ahead of Apple in terms of subscriber­s, which is the metric that really matters.

“They’ve been waiting for validation of the platform and ultimately the awards,” Ives said. “It’s a huge validation, not just from a talent perspectiv­e, but especially when it comes to consumers.”

The Apple TV+ subscriber base remains small — with an estimated 25 million paid customers — considerin­g there are 975 million active iPhones in the market, Ives said.

For comparison, about 222 million people subscribe to Netflix globally.

Netflix and Amazon have broadened their film strategies in recent years to focus on releasing more popular movies, rather than just chasing critical acclaim. Netflix has put out several blockbuste­r-like movies with marquee-busting casts, such as “Red Notice” and “The Adam Project.”

The Apple streamer, meant to expand the company’s revenue in subscripti­ons under its larger services business, opened with just nine programs in 2019. The shows received mixed reviews, but “The Morning Show” and “Dickinson” earned early devotees.

Since then, Apple’s TV programmin­g has expanded and earned accolades, especially the hit comedy “Ted Lasso,” which amassed an impressive seven Emmys last year. The new psychologi­cal thriller series “Severance,” directed by Ben Stiller, has earned widespread praise from critics, signaling Apple’s ambitions in the space.

Its original film unit has been slower to gain traction. It put out movies such as Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks,” the Tom Holland crime drama “Cherry” and the Tom Hanks sci-fi film “Finch,” but nothing has made much of a splash in mainstream culture.

“CODA’s” win marks a breakthrou­gh. The film is about a deaf family who relies on their only hearing member, Ruby, to interpret for them and help them navigate the fishing community in Gloucester, Massachuse­tts. But Ruby has aspiration­s of her own to pursue a music career.

“CODA” won all three awards for which it was nominated, with Troy Kotsur recognized as supporting actor and

Heder winning for adapted screenplay. Kotsur is the first deaf male to win an acting Oscar. Apple was also nominated in three categories for Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” starring Denzel Washington, who was up for lead actor.

“It’s a new kid in the block relative to streaming. Many within the Hollywood elite always viewed Apple as kind of an outsider and never really took its content effort seriously,” Ives said. “It would be viewed as a groundbrea­king achievemen­t for Apple where I think many within Hollywood never thought Apple would get within a sniff of the Academy Award ceremony.”

Ives estimates that

Apple spends roughly $7 billion a year on streaming video content, which is far less than the estimated $19 billion Netflix is expected to deploy on programmin­g this year. Apple is readying some big swings in film, agreeing to finance Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio that is said to have a budget of some $200 million.

Apple TV+ still has a much smaller library than Netflix and Amazon, which recently closed an $8.45-billion acquisitio­n of MGM and its 4,000-film catalog. With rivals ramping up after significan­t head-starts, Apple will have to keep churning out hits to compete effectivel­y.

Apple released “CODA” with relatively little fanfare in August in limited theaters and on Apple TV+. After the Oscar nomination­s were announced, the company put the film in theaters in major U.S. cities and in London. The company blanketed social media and LA billboards with “for your considerat­ion” ads for “CODA,” and promoted the movie through device screens on display at Apple Stores.

But Oscar voters don’t vote for the campaigns. They award the movies themselves, and this is where Apple had an advantage, with the kind of uplifting personal drama the academy often likes to recognize.

“We’ve seen this coming miles away that the streamers are taking over when it comes to characterd­riven stories, stories that can be told on your TV screen at home that don’t need to be seen in a cineplex,” said Tom Nunan, a former studio and network executive who executivep­roduced the 2006 Oscar winner “Crash.” “Generally speaking, the Oscars celebrate those kinds of movies — character-driven stories.”

 ?? APPLE TV+ ?? Emilia Jones and Troy Kotsur in “CODA,” which recently won three Academy Awards, including best picture.
APPLE TV+ Emilia Jones and Troy Kotsur in “CODA,” which recently won three Academy Awards, including best picture.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States