THB #666: Oscar Nominations Morning...
MUBI
Sony Classics
Tom Ortenberg
These are the 3 surprise winners of Oscar nomination morning today.
The distributor of The Substance (5 nominations), the distributor of I’m Still Here (3 nominations), and the distributor of The Apprentice (2 nominations).
It’s not that most of these nominations were wildly unexpected… but they were not expected as they landed. Both actors from The Apprentice, with no Guild nods and no other Oscar nods… increasing the value of Ortenberg’s bet on the film significantly. Best Picture and Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here were considered reaches by everyone but Michael Barker, who has ended every conversation for months saying, “You’ll regret not having Fernanda higher on your list.” He was right. And he got a much deserved Best Picture nod to add to Best International Film. And little MUBI, with almost no money to spend, ended up with Demi Moore driving the exceptional (at least for 2 acts) The Substance to a remarkable 5 …
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