The Oscar Win for 'CODA' Could Mean Streamers Are About to Spend Billions on Movies

Look, we could spend dozens of articles talking about the slap, but there's so much more to unpack after an eventful Academy Awards—namely, CODA winning.

Yes, after years of streamers like Netflix and Amazon pumping cash into prestige dramas to try to win Best Picture, Apple came in, bought a movie at Sundance, and then put a ton of cash behind it, getting it to peak in marketing at the right time. In the end, the "little film that could" picked up multiple awards. 

So why does this matter?

Well, it has incentivized Apple and other streamers to pump even more money into movies. Original content is now the hottest commodity.

For a long time, people assumed Academy members might be prejudiced against streaming movies since they were changing the entire format of Hollywood. They were balking at theaters, having small runs, and not having similar distribution. But now, with CODA's win, it seems like anyone can get in on the act. 

And having an Academy Award-winning movie on your platform has historically done wonders for the subscriptions. Look at movie studios. They're relying on tentpoles to keep them afloat. But streamers are now incentivized to make moves—good movies. And the whole game has changed. 

But just how much money are they willing to pump into making projects? 

Some reports say billions. 

Yahoo Finance published an article that says Apple alone is going to push $7 billion into making original films and TV shows. That's a hefty amount to keep up with the Joneses.

Tech analyst Dan Ives at Wedbush said before the awards, "If Apple was to win the coveted best picture award with CODA it would catalyze more A+ talent coming to Apple first (or in the top bracket) and could propel Cupertino's content efforts by multiples over the coming years with a major paid subscriber boost."

He said Apple could plan to expand in other ways, too.

In fact, he added, "We believe the company is gearing up to ramp [up] original content and also bid on a number of upcoming sports packages (NFL Sunday Night Ticket) coming up for contract/renewals in future years. Taking a step back, Apple TV+ is a small, but highly strategic component of the overall services ecosystem ($80 billion annual revenue in FY22) that is becoming a key monetization engine for the company over the coming years to tap its golden and unmatched installed base."

In order to keep up, you can expect other streamers to make moves as well. It's been well known that Netflix has been frothing at the mouth for a big win. They've tried with The Irishman and Mank. Apple comes back strong next year with Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon as well. You have to assume Amazon and Netflix will be active in buying screenplays and buying into directorial visions this year.

Hopefully, this continues the trend of them betting on adult visions of feature films. But time will tell. 

Let me know what you think in the comments.