Netflix Denies Spending $100 Million On Oscar Campaign

Oscar nominated films need buzz from their campaigns to grab attention from their desired audiences in order to win. All nine of this year’s best picture nominees have used for-your-consideration campaigns for months. However, Netflix has taken Oscar campaigning to a whole new level.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “Industry insiders estimate Netflix is spending well over $100 million, with the majority of those funds funneled into campaigns for Martin Scorsese‘s The Irishman and Noah Baumbach‘s Marriage Story.”

After launching their original programming in 2013, the production company of Netflix has paid premium prices for quality content and content creators. Netflix spent $100 million on the first two seasons of House of Cards, another $130 million for 20 episodes of The Crown, and plans to spend $17 billion on content for 2020. It does not seem entirely unrealistic that the streaming service would blow $100 million on an Oscar campaign.

Netflix’s head of original films, Scott Stuber, denies these claims stating to WSJ, “I don’t think we’re doing anything that everyone else isn’t doing.”

Netflix has accumulated seven Oscar-nominated flims this year, and 24 Oscar nominations in total. This is the first time that the company has earned more than any major studio or distibutor. Whether or not their films win the awards that they were nominated for, an an average of 20 million people in the United States will view the celebration for films never before screened in theaters.