Netflix and Amazon both won Oscars at this year’s show. This marks the first time that streaming services have won one of the prestigious awards. The winner of ‘Best Picture’ went to ‘Moonlight’ after ‘La La Land’ was mistakenly awarded for a brief moment.

Four Academy Awards
Amazon and Netflix have both received a good portion of praise at the Emmy show where HBO usually reigns supreme. However, at the annual Oscar show, officially known as the Academy Awards, the two players have so far been ignored.

No longer. At this year’s show, Amazon won three Oscar statuettes and Netflix brought home one. Amazon’s ’Manchester by the Sea’ won in the categories ’Best Actor’ and ‘Best Original Screenplay’. The movie was also nominated for ’Best Picture’ but that award went to ’Moonlight’ after a few minutes of confusion where ’La La Land’ was mistakenly crowned the winner. La La Land won a total of six Oscar. You can see the entire episode unfold below.




Amazon also won for ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ with the Iranian drama ‘The Salesman’. Netflix won for ’Best Documentary Short’ with the documentary film about Syrian rescue workers ’The White Helmets’.

Netflix was also nominated for an Oscar in category best documentary film in 2015 with ’Virunga’ that was created in partnership with Leonardo DiCaprio. It did not win. To get nominated in the more classic film segments a movie must complete a qualifying run at the cinema.

You can find a complete overview of the 2017 Oscar winners here.




Streaming services take on Hollywood
The victories are important to both streaming players who are trying to establish a presence in the film industry. It marks the shift that is currently underway in the industry where new entrants, built on streaming platforms, take on the old guard in Hollywood.

Netflix’s movies are released simultaneously in the cinema and for streaming whereas Amazon honor the classic window model, which dictates that movies start in the cinema and then passed through strict release windows. That is why ’Manchester by the Sea’ has yet to land on Amazon Prime. It will be available for streaming in May 2017.

Apple is also rumored to enter the industry.

Amazon has never announced the number of subscribers on Amazon Prime Video. Netflix will soon pass 100 million subscribers and is planning on introducing several movies in 2017, including movies starring Brad Pitt and Will Smith.