In recent years, it has become apparent that winning an Oscar may not exclusively come down to an actor giving the best performance or a film being the greatest released within the year. Instead, an Oscar win relies heavily on strategic campaigning by the production company, filmmakers and performers nominated.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is made up of over ten thousand individual members, most of whom vote for the Academy Awards . These members consist of producers, performers, directors, writers, technicians and even film journalists. Some are previous Oscar winners and nominees, well-connected movie stars, behind-the-scenes film executives and even other somewhat random celebrities, such as Taylor Swift.
It is up to the potential winners to appeal to such Academy members, who are responsible for voting for the Oscars. After several long months of campaigning and one week of final voting, the winners for all 23 Oscar categories will be announced at the March 2 ceremony. The prestigious organization will reward its picks for excellence in 2024 to producers, directors, writers, actors and more.
But when it comes to winning an Oscar, simply being “excellent” is not enough. It takes a careful film distribution plan and a considerable amount of momentum in order to win the hearts and votes of the Academy.
Final voting for Oscar winners closes in February, only about two weeks before the official ceremony. Therefore, it is crucial that movies stay fresh in voters’ minds up to the very last day, after which the ballot closes. That is why this year, nine out of the 10 Best Picture nominees were released theatrically in the United States between September 2024 and December 2024 – the one exception being “Dune: Part Two,” the sequel to 2021’s six-time Oscar-winner “Dune.”
This does not mean that good movies only come out between September and December. This does, however, represent the strategy employed by film distributors to be remembered by Oscars voters.
A movie is almost guaranteed to have better luck at the Oscars if it’s released from September onward. This is evident in that some of the greatest films of 2024 were completely omitted from Oscar nominations, which were announced back in January. Notably, many of these omitted films were released prior to September 2024. For example, “Challengers,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “I Saw the TV Glow” were some of the most beloved movies of the year, praised by critics and popular among sizable audiences. However, none of them received any Oscar nominations. Could it be because they were released all the way back in the spring of 2024, doomed to be forgotten by the time that Oscar voting rolled around?
The majority of recognized directors, actors and screenwriters can be seen on a similar release timeline. And it’s only logical – preliminary Oscars voting takes place in December, voting for nominations takes place in January and final voting for the winners takes place in February. The entire process skews toward the last few months leading up to the awards show, and it’s clear that movies released closer to this date benefit from it.
The people who want the award have to play the game to win.
And while timing may have factored into voters’ decisions in choosing nominees, over the past few months, potential winners have embarked on calculated individual campaigns.
Demi Moore, the current front-runner for Best Actress in a Leading Role thanks to her role in “The Substance,” gave an undeniably outstanding performance in the body horror film. But so did Moore’s fellow Best Actress nominees Mikey Madison in “Anora,” Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked” and Fernanda Torres in “I’m Still Here.” Therefore, the factor that sets Moore apart is not that her acting was miles better than that of her peers.
At 62 years old , Moore has starred in countless iconic Hollywood movies, from playing the villainess in a “Charlie’s Angels” installment to voice acting in Disney’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Most casual moviegoers are guaranteed to know of her status as a successful actress, by the sheer merit of her being industry veteran Demi Moore.
However, Moore has stated that prior to “The Substance,” she had never won or even been nominated for any major film awards. Only now is she being taken “seriously” as a performer, and she is finally earning awards recognition, not only for “The Substance,” but for her many contributions to Hollywood.
In her acceptance speech for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Moore emphatically shared that a movie producer had once told her she was merely a “popcorn actress.” She said she was led to believe that she merely acted in commercial films that did well at a surface level but were not taken seriously by awards and critics. Winning an Oscar for “The Substance,” a film that satirizes female beauty standards, particularly for aging women, would be a stellar capstone for Moore’s decades-long career. Academy voters are well aware of this fact, and judging from Moore’s success at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards as well as the public praise she has garnered, it has made all the difference for her. Moore’s “narrative” up to the Oscars ceremony is a genuinely true and compelling story, and it can do so much as to sway voters to look beyond just the quality of performance.
Taking a radically different approach, Gen Z favorite Timothée Chalamet has gone out of his way with interviews and other public appearances to campaign for Best Actor. He is up for the award thanks to his portrayal of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” Chalamet, though not known or revered for his singing abilities in any regard, boldly chose to not only host “Saturday Night Live” in January but also appear as the musical guest. He performed covers of multiple songs by Dylan, reminding audiences of just how far he had gone to embody musical legend Dylan.
Chalamet has also posted creative, somewhat nonsensical promotional videos of himself on his Instagram account, racking up millions of views. He has appeared everywhere in the public eye, including commentating on a College Football Gameday , conversing with Kendrick Lamar prior to the Super Bowl halftime show and a 60 Minutes Interview. He has clearly done as much as he can for public exposure, aiming to win over Academy voters via his unique charm, versatility as an individual and passion for his craft.
It seems unlikely that Chalamet will actually snag a win for Best Actor, as Adrien Brody from “The Brutalist” defeated Chalamet at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and British Academy Film Awards. However, the visible effort that Chalamet has put into campaigning for the award is a telltale sign of how nominees believe Oscars can be won.
Individual performers are not the only ones engaged in Oscars campaigning – distributing studios such as Netflix, Universal and Searchlight Pictures have hosted screenings for their nominated films. Actors and creatives have engaged in interviews filmed for live audiences. Vast amounts of money, time and sheer effort are funneled into campaigning for the Oscar win. In an age that so highly values networking and public perception, it is not enough to merely put out a good body of work. Nominated individuals must go above and beyond to win an award.
That raises the question – are the actual best films of the year being recognized at this year’s ceremony? In the end, what is an Academy Award really rewarding?
The Oscars will be aired live on ABC on Sunday, March 2, and the final results of the 2025 Oscar campaigns will be revealed then.
Featured image by Sebastian – stock.adobe.com
