WIFT NZ - How Much Does An Oscar Campaign Cost?

Check out this article from Stephen Follows. It has stats on the Oscars that you won't read about in the mainstream media.

Although for the public the start of 'Oscar season', was the finalists announcement, in fact the studios have been campaigning hard for many months. Millions of dollars have already been spent and by the time Oscar night comes around on 22nd February, Hollywood will have spent over $100 million to win a little golden man.

Most of the reporting online is about the films, the frocks and the politics - little about the financial cost. So Stephen did a bit of digging and put together the numbers behind Oscar campaigns.

In summary...

Oscar voters are 94% white, 77% male and have a median age of 62.
56% of 'Best Picture' nominees were released in either November or December.
The cost of a 'Best Picture' winning Oscar campaign is around $10 million
Half of all the money spent on Oscar campaigns will go on advertising
A page 1 advert in The Hollywood Reporter during Oscar season costs $72,000.
Crash (2005) spent $250,000 on DVD screeners
PR consultants are paid $10k-$15k, plus bonuses of $20k per nomination / win.
It costs around $3,500 to prepare a Hollywood actress for the red carpet
Oscar nominated films earn average of $12.7m more than films not nominated
A 'Best Picture' Oscar win is worth $3 million in increased box office gross
A Golden Globe win is worth $14.2 million
The non-financial benefits to studios of an Oscar 'Best Picture' are worth $7m
Best Actor winners can expect a $3.9m salary increase
It's just $500k for Best Actress winners
It is possible to predict the Oscar winners with a success rate of 77% for Picture, 93% for Director, 77% for Actor, and 77% for Actress

The full article is here http://stephenfollows.com/how-much-does-a-hollywood-oscar-campaign-cost, along with plenty more data on Oscar campigns.

As always, contact Stephen via http://stephenfollows.com/contact/ if there is anything you want to follow up.