2026 is here, and that means it’s officially “awards season.” From the Critics’ Choice to the Golden Globes to the Oscars, and with plenty more in between it’s going to be wall-to-wall awards for the next few months. It’s a big deal in Hollywood, but as Gwyneth Paltrow points out, it’s also big business.
Gwyneth Paltrow won the Best Actress Oscar back in 1999 for Shakespeare in Love, and while the actress is now somewhat retired, her new film, Marty Supreme, is likely to be a strong contender at most awards shows (it’s already nabbed Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice nominations). In a recent appearance on the Awardist podcast, Paltrow recognizes that nominations are recognition of great works, but she doesn’t ignore that it’s also about money. She said…
So it’s like to say, I think awards are designed, I think, yes, to acknowledge people’s amazing achievements, but it’s also a monetization tool for a broader industry. And so I think you have to understand them also from that perspective too, and know that even if your film is in the conversation, that in itself is an honor. That in itself is wonderful for a movie and for this business model of cinema, which I hope is going to continue to be viable.
While it’s nice to imagine that awards like the Oscars are given out entirely on merit and that there is zero politicking that goes on, that’s not the case, and it’s nice to hear somebody willing to say it out loud. There’s a lot of money involved in awards season. For Your Consideration campaigns pump millions into the Hollywood ecosystem in an attempt to get voters to notice particular films.
We know that some award voters don’t watch every movie, so campaigns like this can have a real impact, getting some to look at films they might otherwise not see. It may lead to legitimate votes, but the money spent on the campaign itself is part of Hollywood’s system. That money can come back to the studios in the form of ticket sales, Blu-ray purchases, on streaming views from movies that receive nominations and wins.
Of course, because these award winners come out of a combination of talent and campaigning, it can often lead to dissatisfaction from those watching the awards show, who feel the wrong film won a particular award. This is fine for Gwyneth Paltrow, as she says that nobody will ever entirely agree on these things, such is the nature of film. She continued…
I think there’s always discourse around what people like and don’t like because art is subjective. That’s the point of it. The point of art is to stir emotion and to help you process through emotion and to help you take something abstract and put it into a reference that you understand.
None of this is to say that nominees and award winners aren’t deserving. When every studio is spending money to get attention, it levels the playing field somewhat. There is still great work that goes into making these movies, and those that receive recognition in the form of awards should be proud.