Oscar Winners 2025
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Oscar winners 2025.
Let’s go!
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Best Picture
Anora (Neon)
Long live independent film!
Best Actor
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Brody’s second Oscar win, after The Pianist (2002)
“They do not want us here,” clip.
Best Actress
Mikey Madison, Anora
Madison’s most wild, physically demanding scene in the film was not a sex scene, clip.
Best Supporting Actor
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
“Is anyone feeling this?” Clip.
“Jesse Eisenberg. Thank you for this movie. You're a genius. I would never say that to your face. I'm never saying it again, so soak it up.”
Best Supporting Actress
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Watch her perform El Mal, which also won, for Best Original Song.
Best Director
Sean Baker, Anora
Best Original Screenplay
Sean Baker, Anora
Read the script here.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Peter Straughan, Conclave
Previously nominated for co-writing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Read the screenplay here.
Best International Feature
I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics) - Brazil
Dir: Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries, On the Road)
Best Animated Feature
Flow (first Oscar for Latvia)
Best Documentary Feature
No Other Land (ImmerGuteFilme)
Premiere: Berlin Film Festival, Panorama
Won: Panorama Audience Award, Best Documentary
Best Cinematography
Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Best Production Design
Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales Wicked
Check out the full list of winners here.
Anora captured the most wins with 5 Academy Awards, with director Sean Baker winning 4 of those awards (Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing).
The Brutalist won 3 Oscars (Best Actor, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography).
Biggest upsets of the night:
Anora’s Mikey Madison’s win over The Substance’s Demi Moore for Best Actress
Flow’s win over The Wild Robot for Best Animated Film
Neon won 5 Academy Awards. A24 and Netflix picked up three awards each (Netflix’s 3rd was for their short film).
Notable Quotes:
Zoe Saldaña, accepting the award for Best Supporting Actress in what was the most impassioned speech of the evening, yelled out:
“Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the quiet heroism and the power in a woman like Rita… My grandmother came to this country in 1961. I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands. And I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award. And I know I will not be the last!”
Adrien Brody’s speech about the ups and downs of his Hollywood career concluded powerfully:
“I'm here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of anti-Semitism and racism and of othering. And I believe that I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world. If the past can teach us anything, it's a reminder to not let hate go unchecked… Let's stand to what's right. Keep smiling. Keep loving one another. Let's rebuild together.”
Sean Baker gave an impassioned speech about the power of the theatrical experience. And how parents bringing their kids to the movies is the best way to inspire the next generation of filmmakers.
For More:
Bowen Yang and John Lithgow’s tiff (clip).
Nick Offerman, sassy Oscar announcer, interrupts Conan (clip).
CinemaStreams, featuring Martin Scorsese (clip).
Ben Stiller's production design mishap, while presenting the award for production design (clip).
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Neon must be popping the champagne. Anora is now their second film after Parasite (2019), to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes and then the Academy Award for Best Picture. Impressive as the company started less than a decade ago in 2017.
They have a keen focus on auteur cinema (they’ve picked up 5/5 of the last Palme d’Or winners).
As mirrored in Sean Baker’s speech about how Neon champions the theatrical experience, Tom Quinn, Neon’s CEO and founder, has stated:
“We don’t shy away from nonfiction. We don’t shy away from drama. We simply are trying to find films that warrant your attention at a certain price point to leave the home and sit and be captive and be taken somewhere that, honestly, I don’t know that we could do as effectively if you were streaming at home and being able to walk away at any moment that you want.”
It’s been a great decade for indie cinema with the Academy choosing 4 out of 10 Best Picture winners with production budgets of under $10 M:
$1.5 M - Moonlight (2016)
$5 M - Nomadland (2020)
$6 M Anora (2024)
$10 M Coda (2021)
Anora has earned $15.9 M domestically, and should see a healthy post-Oscar bump.
Tidbits:
Jon M. Chu, whose film Wicked picked up two Oscars, just got the green light for a new series with Max. His new series is based on his successful 2018 romcom Crazy Rich Asians. Co-writer Adele Lim is returning to pen the pilot, produce and showrun. The beautiful and transcendent Crazy Rich Asians (2018) from Warner Bros. grossed $240 M worldwide, and like the upcoming series, it is based on the novel by the same name. There have been no announcements made regarding the cast or the storyline as of late, as the series is in the very early stages of development.
Mini Tidbits:
Worldwide rights to Lena Dunham’s next project, Good Sex, starring Natalie Portman, has sold to Netflix for a wild $55 M. Learn more about the film here:
https://theindustry.co/p/lena-dunhams-asymmetrical-relationships
Sharon Horgan has signed a two-year first-look TV deal with HBO, leaving her previous deal with Apple. She is currently developing an untitled comedy, about a 50-year-old divorcee, which just received a straight to series order.
Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions has hired veteran film and TV producer D. Matt Geller as their new EVP. Geller, who most recently was an EP on the Jennifer Lopez-led Kiss of the Spider Woman, will lead development and production on all scripted content for Balboa.
The Golden Globes have ended payment to the 50 last remaining members of the Hollywood Foreign Press. That means the annual yearly payments of $75K have been cut, although there is a severance of $102K if they stay through 2026.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
We’ll dive deep into some of the Best Actor winners over the next few editions. But for now, our regularly scheduled programming:
We have an upcoming workshop with the directors of Sing Sing, so look out for that!
Sing Sing scene stealer Clarence Maclin is set to lead The Serpent Queen actor Ray Panthaki’s directorial debut, In Starland (IMDbPro link). The film is described as a deeply personal, raw, and thought-provoking exploration of generational divides and human connection.
In his first onscreen role in the inspirational Sing Sing (2024), Maclin gave one of the most underrated and one of the best performances of the year. He played a new member of the prison’s rehabilitation center, Divine Eye, a version of himself that was so empathetic and pure, reinventing his perception of masculinity while also rediscovering himself throughout the process. His sparring opposite Colman Domingo’s Divine G, was not only fun to watch but stood out in a real breakout performance earning him numerous nominations this award season. With such a captivating breakthrough performance, it will be super exciting to see what is next from Maclin, given this will be his first lead role.
Production on In Starland is set to commence in the US in April.
We have an upcoming workshop with the directors of Sing Sing, so look out for that!
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Al Pacino joins Gus Van Sant's first film in 6 years, Dead Man’s Wire. The film also stars Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu), Colman Domingo and Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things).
Here’s the synopsis:
A former real estate developer who takes the mortgage banker who did him wrong hostage, demanding $5 million and a personal apology.
No word on who Pacino will play but there’s some great overlap here with his beautiful and tragic Dog Day Afternoon (1975, trailer).
Shooting is set to begin this year.
Mini Tidbit:
The ‘Burbs, Peacock’s comedy series starring and EP’d by Keke Palmer (Nope) has lined up some great guest stars, including:
Haley Joel Osment (Sixth Sense, Blink Twice)
RJ Cyler (Me, Early and the Dying Girl)
The series follows a young couple who returns to the husband's childhood home, only to face threats from new neighbors and uncover dark secrets of their cul-de-sac.
The series is based on the zany Tom Hanks film, The Burbs (1989, trailer).
FESTIVALS
César Awards 2025:
https://theindustry.co/p/cesar-awards-2025
Despite the fact that Francis Ford Coppola won a Razzie, Megalopolis was wild and one of the most powerful statements of the year about the nature of making art:
“In this wreck of a world today, where ART is given scores as if it were professional wrestling, I chose to NOT follow the gutless rules laid down by an industry so terrified of risk that despite the enormous pool of young talent at its disposal, may not create pictures that will be relevant and alive 50 years from now.”
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
The short film Academy Awards occasionally usher in a new generation of talent. Here are the famous examples:
Martin McDonagh
Dir: In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2005: Best Live Action Short, Six Shooter
Andrea Arnold
Dir: American Honey, Fish Tank
2004: Best Live Action Short, Wasp
Taika Waititi
Dir: Jojo Rabbit, What We Do in the Shadows
2004: nominated for Best Live Action Short Two Cars, One Night
Here are tonight’s winners:
I’m Not a Robot took Best Narrative short film. The synopsis is just amazing:
After repeatedly failing Captcha tests, music producer Lara becomes obsessed with a disturbing question: could she be a robot?
Directed and written by Victoria Warmerdam, produced by Trent. Watch the full short here.
In the Shadow of the Cypress (2023) won best animated short.
Here’s the synopsis:
Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain who has post-traumatic stress disorder, leads a tough and secluded life.
Despite the restarting of the Oscar speech by directors Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani, their film premiered at Venice in 2023 has a wonderful poetic melancholy made abstract. Trailer. Rent the film here.
The Only Girl in the Orchestra took Best Documentary Short.
Here’s the synopsis:
This unsung hero story celebrates trailblazing musician, Orin O'Brien, and the double bass she plays.
Here is the trailer for director Molly O'Brien’s film. Or catch the entire short on Netflix.
Tidbits:
Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, starring June Squibb, has a first look. The film follows a 90-year-old woman rebuilding her life in New York after losing her best friend.
As a nod to the future film, Johansson and Squibb took to the stage together at the Oscars. They clearly work well together, they had a great joke that Andy Serkis and Bill Skarsgård were playing them.
See you tomorrow!
Written by Gabriel Miller, Spencer Carter, and Madelyn Menapace.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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