LOS ANAGELES: Apple TV+ made history as the first streaming service to win a best picture Oscar for ‘CODA,’ a heartwarming drama about the daughter of deaf parents who pursues her passion for music.
The streaming service purchased ‘CODA’ for a record $25 million following its debut in 2021 at the Sundance Film Festival, and it has gathered momentum throughout the awards season, winning top honors from the Producers Guild, Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild awards.
‘CODA’ faced intense competition from Netflix’s critically acclaimed western, ‘The Power of the Dog,’ which collected a dozen nominations. The film’s director, Jane Campion, received an Academy Award.
The best picture Oscar signals how far the industry has come since 2017, when the Cannes film festival prohibited movies that were not released on the big screen from competing for its most prestigious prize, Palme d’Or. It was a deliberate snub to streaming services like Netflix.
As the global pandemic forced theaters to close in 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences modified its Oscar eligibility rules to temporarily change the requirement that a movie screen for seven days in theaters to qualify. This was watershed moment for movies that debut via streaming services in the home.
The best picture Oscar also marks a milestone for Apple TV+, which launched in November 2019 with a handful of original series and no library of movies and TV shows.
