Oscars 2023: What Do Academy Award Winners And Nominees Stand To Gain?

Oscars 2023 or the 95th Academy Awards are the crème de la crème of the world of movies and award shows. From the haut monde’s flamboyant display to the gushing hype surrounding the nominations – the Oscars are surely about much more than a coveted golden statuette.  

Even those who don’t usually apprise themselves with the world of entertainment, know that winning an Oscar is a justified pinnacle of success. But outside the Oscars’ world of glitz and glam, people often wonder what do these winners get apart from name and fame? Is there prize money for Oscar winners? Let’s take a look at what the Academy Awards’ winners get apart from the golden figure. 

‘Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of’ – The Oscar Statuette And ‘Everyone Wins’ Gift Bag

The Oscar statuette or as the official website calls it, ‘stuff that dreams are made of,’ has been displayed on the mantels of the greatest film personalities since 1929. The golden desire, made of solid bronze and plated in 24-karat-gold, is 13 and a half inch tall and crafted by Polich Tallix fine art foundry in New York’s Hudson Valley. 

While the Oscar trophy is reserved just for the winners, the ‘Everyone Wins’ gift bag is something that many take back home. The most talked-about swag worth several luxurious goodies, is made and distributed by Los Angeles-based marketing company Distinctive Assets. This year, as per media reports, the bag is estimated to cost a whopping $1,26,000. 

For over 20 years, Distinctive Assets has been producing and distributing the ‘Everyone Wins’ Nominee Gift Bags. The bags, which are not handed out at the ceremony, are exclusively delivered to the nominees in the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director Categories, as per a 2022 press release.

According to media reports, this year, the ‘Everyone Wins’ Oscar gift bag features over 60 items, ranging from beauty and lifestyle products, to luxury vacations. The bag also includes a $40,000-worth getaway to a Canadian estate called ‘The Lifestyle’ and a stay in a restored Italian lighthouse. In addition to this, all those who wish to revamp their houses in any way, will reportedly be able to use the $25,000-worth project management fees for home restoration from Maison Construction. 

While the Oscars’ ‘Everyone Wins’ gift bags is a refined symbol of exclusivity, it also reportedly tries to have products from companies that are owned by women or people coming from minority backgrounds. It also contains reportedly contains several skincare products from Miage, stuff from Blush Silks, Bored Rebel, The Millions-Billions-Trillions brand and so on. 

Do Oscar Winners Get Paid?

Beside all the glamour, many wonder if Oscar winners ever receive a monetary amount from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. To put it simply, the answer is ‘no,’ the winners don’t get paid in cash. As per media reports, there never really is any direct cash prize for winning an Oscar; however, those who do win, see a boost to their bank accounts and reputation, often eventually. 

What the media terms as an ‘Oscar Effect,’ is something that happens to the Oscar winners. While there is no clear definition of this, to put it simply, all the after-effects of an Oscar, good or bad are termed as the ‘Oscar Effects.’ These range from more demand as actors, a hike in earnings from a film, to more ticket sales and so on. 

As per international media reports, the ‘Oscar Effect’ means that winners sometimes become a more desirable choice of directors and studios. Some studies suggest that the ‘Oscar Effect’ gives winners and nominees an approx. 20 per cent jump in their pay packets and this effect can often last for several movies. 

According to as.com, the Oscars nominated films, often also witness an uplift in earnings. This is because once the nominations get announced, people often become more interested in seeing the movie and knowing more about it, if they have not done that in the past. However, the report adds it must be noted that “since films release at different points of the year, it is difficult to link a causality-link between a nomination and ticket sales.”

But an Oscar nomination is not just about the earnings. Sometimes, a lot of money also goes in it. As per a research called ‘For Oscar Glory or Oscar Money?’ by Eva Deuchert, Kossi Adjamah and Florian Pauly, “Studios and independent producers have invested huge amounts of money to promote their movies in the race for the Academy Awards. For instance, Universal Pictures spent $15 million to promote ‘A Beautiful Mind’ with the 5,739 voting Academy members, the movie which subsequently won the Oscar for best picture in 2002.”

Another study called ‘Effects of Oscar Awards on Movie Production’ by Betty Agnani and Henry Aray suggests, “The results show that the Oscar wins have significant positive effects on movie production and that some of them have caused structural breaks, while others have vanishing effects over time.”