Both Amazon And Netflix Won Their First Oscars This Year

In the years since they have become major players in the annual Emmy race, both Netflix and Amazon have added films to their respective libraries in a shared attempt to crash the Oscars. Now, the two most prominent subscription video on-demand (SVOD) platforms in the industry can both say they are Academy Award winners. At last night’s ceremony, the Amazon Studios-distributed drama Manchester By The Sea took home awards for its screenplay and acting, while the Netflix-affiliated short film The White Helmets was named the year’s best short subject documentary.

Manchester by the Sea had already made history by becoming the first SVOD-distributed film to earn a Best Picture nomination, but victories for screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan and lead actor Casey Affleck cemented the film’s status as an Oscar winner. Amazon representatives who attended the Oscar ceremony were excited to see the film they worked on take home its statuettes, to say the least:

Netflix, for its part, has finally succeeded in clinching an Oscar win after coming up just short for several years. The SVOD platform received an Academy Award nomination for 2013 documentary The Square, but did not win; in 2017, it was another film about unrest in the Arab world, The White Helmets, that allowed Netflix to emerge victorious.

Both Netflix and Amazon have added more films to their libraries in recent months, so don’t be shocked if the streamers show up again at future Oscar ceremonies. In the meantime, they have a lot of work to do in the worlds of music and theater if they hope to claim the illustrious EGOT.