How ‘CODA’ Pulled Off That Oscar Upset: World’s Richest Company Became a Scrappy Underdog
thewrap.comSundance in January 2021. But more than one rival insists that total is too low. “Money wasn’t an object” for Apple, one campaigner said.But the Oscar win for “CODA,” which made Apple the first streaming company to win Best Picture, involved a lot more than spending.
And it reflected a coordinated effort that came less than three years after the tech giant launched its streaming service, in November 2019.
Here’s how it played out:January 2021At the all-virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Apple entered a bidding war and paid a Sundance-record $25 million for the rights to “CODA,” a remake of a 2014 French film called “La Famille Belier.” Made for $10 million, the feel-good drama about a teenage girl of deaf parents who wants to become a singer was written and directed by Sian Heder and starred Emilia Jones and a number of deaf actors, including Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur.
The film drew mostly positive reviews at Sundance, with TheWrap calling it “a sweet, openhearted coming-of-age story that succeeds in spite of its own predictability.” It also won the jury and audience prizes at the festival.August Apple TV+ began streaming the film, which was also given a small theatrical run.
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