How independent studios ruled the Oscars, with Lionsgate taking six awards and A24 the best picture prize
Independents and non-conventional film backers including Amazon, Netflix and ESPN, scored big at the Academy Awards
The Oscars proved golden for Lionsgate, the California studo whose La La Land took home six Academy Awards on Sunday, the most of any movie this year. But it was indie distributor A24 that stole the show with Moonlight , which scored three awards, including a surprise win for best picture.
The victory for Moonlight topped off a strong night for smaller and non-conventional industry players including Amazon, which scored its first Oscar wins with two awards for Manchester by the Sea – lead actor Casey Affleck and original screenplay by Kenneth Lonergan.
Iran’s The Salesman won for foreign language film.
Netflix also won its first Oscar with the documentary short The White Helmets, about aid workers in Syria and Turkey.
Among the six major studios, Disney fared best, with four Oscars, including a win for the animated Zootopia . Warner Bros. scored two statuettes, as did Paramount, including a supporting actress win for Viola Davis in Fences.