CODA won the 94th Oscar Academy Award’s coveted major recognitions for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Siân Heder) and Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur). Although Apple beat Netflix in making history as the first streaming network to have won awards for a franchised movie, Apple’s involvement in CODA cannot be likened to how Netflix manages its original movies.
As it is, Apple made a move to buy the rights to CODA after the movie won four awards in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Apple reportedly paid $25 million to acquire the streaming rights to the movie after CODA got the Grand Jury Prize, the audience award, the directing award and the special jury award for the cast ensemble. Subsequently, CODA also made record as the first major Sundance winner to win an Oscar for best movie.
What Makes CODA’s Oscar Win Important for Apple?
CODA’s Oscar Best Picture win has already brought favorable results for Apple, as reports have it that since the Oscar wins, the movie immediately drew in a 25% increase in viewership at Apple TV Plus. The increase pushed by as much as 300%, the number of audience who viewed the movie via Apple’s streaming services.
Critics though question the greatness of the numbers as the figures depended on the numbers posted by Apple TV Plus prior to CODA’s Oscar win.
The greater question that Apple critics are asking is if the results are worth the $25 million investment after the movie gained considerable entertainment value as a multi-awarded entry in the Sundance Film Festival. As opposed to Netflix’s deeper involvement from point of selection, to the development and adaptation of the movie as a Netflix feature, up to their promotion as a Netflix offering.
About CODA The Movie and Why it Deserves to Win the Oscar Bet Picture
CODA in the complex and intricate world of people with hearing disabilities is the term used to refer to children with unimpaired hearing, albeit born to deaf parents. The movie tells the story of Ruby, played by Emilia Jones. Ruby is a shy 17-year old who is the Coda to the family of hardworking deaf couples Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur.
Ruby’s struggle is not just the pressures of being the family’s bridge and spokesperson for her family in the hearing world. The movie also shows her inner struggles of wishing to fulfill her childhood ambition of becoming a singer, which her family might find hard to understand and accept.