It’s official: The streamers have proven their bonafides in Hollywood with Apple TV+’s best picture win for CODA at the 2022 Oscars.
The win comes roughly six years after Amazon’s Manchester by the Sea was nominated for the top prize, becoming the first streamer to do so and propelling a conversation about the power of streaming against the traditional Hollywood studios.
Though the 2022 Oscars weren’t entirely dominated by wins for films released by streaming services, Apple TV+ and Netflix films received awards for best supporting actor (for CODA’s Troy Kotsur), best director (for The Power of the Dog’s Jane Campion) and best adapted screenplay (for CODA’s Siân Heder).
But the CODA best picture win was a notable success for Apple, given that it launched Apple TV+ in 2019 and received its first Oscar nomination this year. Apple’s win was also a major upset to Netflix, which has become a frontrunner for Oscar nominations in recent years but still has not clinched the best picture award, despite having both The Power of the Dog and Don’t Look Up nominated in the category and spending millions in pursuit of the prize.
Amazon Studios was also shut out during this year’s Oscars, failing to win in the acting categories for Being the Ricardos and in the makeup and hairstyle category for Coming 2 America. Disney+ also missed out for Luca, which was Disney’s only animated film with a streaming-only release, though the best animated film award did go to another Disney film (and the expected winner), Encanto.
