So were you blind-sided by the winners of this year's Oscars ceremony?

CODA swooped in to be the first film from a streamer to win an Oscar – Netflix’s own The Power Of The Dog looked to be in pole position to grab this honour, but on the night it went to Apple. Although the whole apple cart and immediate surrounding conversation was upset by Will Smith’s slap-happy actions.

Call me optimistic, but I do think over the longer term a lot of the lovelier clips of the night will be recognised and people will seek them out. I’m thinking of the inclusive moments featuring diversity – we had CODA itself, which features a predominantly deaf cast and Ariana DeBose winning for West Side Story as the first openly queer woman of colour, and feel good moments like the “I got you” exchange between Lady Gaga and Liza Minelli. These are the good stories, the ones that are meaningful, genuine and authentic.

But we do need to acknowledge that the Oscars is – by its very nature – elitist. The pictures that inspire and move an every-day cinema-goer are often not those that receive rapturous reviews from judges. If the people had their vote, Spider-Man: No Way Home would likely have added some golden trophies to the $798,000,000+ it grossed at the box office.

Analysis of Oscar wins predicted by audience votes based on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores shows the gulf between critics and regular cinema-goers. West Side Story was tipped to win a lot more trophies including Best Director for Steven Spielberg and Best Costume Design.

And the mind-frazzling depiction of a multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home or the kinetic martial arts and mayhem in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings were the frontrunners in the audience's minds to win Best Visual Effects. This went to Dune, a worthy winner but not an audience favourite.

Reignite the connection

This divide is growing in the post-pandemic era.

Streaming services like Disney+ have surged in popularity, blending with the habits and behaviours of modern audiences. This shift has seen movies like Encanto perform poorly in the box office, but enjoy sell-out sofa-subscriptions.

You could also argue that the gap between those-who-consume and those-who-crown is reflected in the running time of nominated movies.

Only one film nominated for Best Picture – Belfast – has a running time of under ninety minutes. The rest are significantly longer. How does this contrast with the shortening modern attention span? Is there space for these movies in the TikTok era of consumption?

The answer is of course yes. High-quality long-form content isn’t going anywhere.

But the Oscars show us that there is an opportunity to rekindle the connection between those who award, and those who watch. And brands can play a rewarding role in bridging the gap.

Audiences, attention and authenticity

I May Destroy You was one of 2020’s most critically acclaimed TV shows. The drama was created, written, co-directed, and executive produced by the extraordinary Michaela Coel.

Last year, Michaela won the prestigious award of Leading Actress at the BAFTAs. As part of Redwood Studio’s work with BAFTA partner Virgin Media we produced a number of social assets – take a look at this short clip. You can tangibly feel the raw emotion emanating from the star. 

“Not only is Arabella someone who is very close to me, I feel like she represents a lot of women who aren’t really seen on television. She’s messy and she’s not perfect.” 

And audiences at home could feel the power of her response just as much as I did producing this punchy piece. 

This was our mission. To put a spotlight on the unique, emotional role television played in our lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. As well as producing social media content during the show, we created a Hero film celebrating the nominees of the Virgin Media Must-See Moment award – the only award at the Virgin Media BAFTAs voted for by the public. 

The BAFTAs set the benchmark for TV. We knew we needed to match this quality – but on a lean budget and a tight deadline.

We created a long-form piece following award-winning travel presenter Cassam Looch on a TV-themed adventure show spanning six cities. The heart of the film captured real people talking about the six shortlisted TV moments, encapsulating the escapism and togetherness that telly offered the nation during the pandemic. 

This powerful blend of high-quality long-form and short-form video content proved effective. Audiences were able to tangibly engage with the awards and have their say – while also getting closer to the artists who had become part of their lives through lockdown. 

And Virgin Media became the connective tissue between these passion points. The brand saw record levels of engagement on social media. For instance, Mark Hamill brought the Force when he shared the Instagram film celebrating Luke Skywalker’s cameo in The Mandalorian – it received 120K organic likes within 48 hours.

Brands are bridges

What wins the minds of judges and regular audiences may never align. But film will always be a powerful storytelling vehicle.

For brands, content can shorten the distance between Hollywood and home, as it did for Virgin Media. The campaign brought people authentically closer to the artists, shows and movies they care about.

The possibility of creating high-quality content on a small budget with a tight turnaround is now reality. And your content doesn’t need to win an Oscar to be effective at capturing the hearts of audiences.

About the author:

Laura Rutkowski
Senior Staff Writer, Virgin TV Edit at Redwood BBDO

 Laura Rutkowski is Senior Staff Writer at Redwood BBDO for Virgin TV Edit, the entertainment and education content hub for Virgin Media. She conducts celebrity and real-life interviews, as well as produces video and social content, and writes about everything from Peaky Blinders to Shark Week (her favourite time of the year).

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