Editorial: Saving up for that Oscar campaign

Ever dream of winning an Oscar with that fabulously quirky, wry and strangely moving home-made movie that you’ve always dreamed of making with your talented friends?

Well, don’t, unless you’re a billionaire. As we report today, the Oscar race is getting more hideously expensive each year and this year’s contenders have spent an eye-watering $10m (£6.4m) each on their publicity campaigns, making this the priciest awards race in memory. Sadly, studio films with deep pockets are relentlessly edging the independents out of the Best Picture category simply because the makers of the latter can’t afford the staggering cost of staging an awards campaign.

Only a few years ago, the trend was the other way, with modestly made independent movies grabbing the prizes. No longer. In Oscar-land, as in American politics, one might note, money, as usual, is having the last laugh.