The 97th Academy Awards took place on March 2nd, celebrating a new slate of films, actors, and industry professionals. Ten films were nominated for Best Picture, with the honor going to the independent film Anora. Since nominations are announced as early as January, Best Picture contenders have ample time to generate excitement and media attention through their association with Hollywood’s most prestigious award.
Many Oscar-nominated films may be relatively unknown to the general public, as the Academy Awards often favors high-art productions over blockbuster hits with worldwide releases and massive box office earnings. However, exceptions exist, as seen with this year’s nominees like Dune: Part Two and Wicked. The ‘Oscar Bump’ refers to the surge in viewership for niche films that initially had limited audiences but gained attention after being featured at the Oscars. The Best Picture winner typically experiences the largest boost, as it becomes a key part of the conversation surrounding the year’s top films.
A media analyst would be inclined to wonder whether a film’s media coverage also experiences a boost from a Best Picture win. Specifically, does winning Best Picture lead to a greater volume of media coverage compared to other nominees? Our media analysis team sought to find out.
Before exploring this question further, we can establish a few assumptions. First, since ‘awards season’ begins in January, media coverage of Oscar nominees is expected to increase in the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards. Second, on Oscar night (March 2nd, 2025), all nominees will likely see a surge in coverage due to the event’s widespread media attention. The Oscars consistently generate headlines each year, with coverage that inevitably mentions the Best Picture contenders. Third, other major industry events between January and Oscar night—such as the announcement of nominations, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and other awards—may also contribute to increased media coverage for the nominated films.
With these assumptions established, we can now examine this year’s Best Picture winner, Anora, in comparison to the other nine nominees. To do this, we utilized Agility PR Solutions’ proprietary media analysis software to track coverage of all ten Best Picture nominees from January 1st to March 7th. This timeframe captures the entirety of awards season and the days following the Academy Awards. Through quantitative analysis tools provided within Agility, we were able todetermine whether Anora experienced a significant increase in media mentions due to the ‘Oscar Bump.’ Additionally, we leveraged AI to analyze the content of Anora’s media mentions (also provided by Agility’s media monitoring software), gaining insight into how the film was discussed post-win.
The Anora Oscar Bump – For Media Mentions
Did Anora see a noticeable surge in media coverage after securing Best Picture at the Oscars?
An interesting trend emerges when comparing media mentions before and after Oscar night. From January 1st to March 2nd, Anora ranked as the fifth most-mentioned film among the nominees. However, after winning Best Picture on March 2nd, Anora dominated coverage, suggesting a significant post-Oscar surge in media attention.
To further assess whether Anora’s media mentions were limited to the immediate aftermath of its Best Picture win, we analyzed coverage separately for March 3rd and for the period of March 4th to 7th. As expected, Anora received the most coverage on March 3rd, driven by news of its Oscar victory. However, the momentum continued, with Anora remaining the most covered film among the ten nominees in the days following, suggesting a sustained post-Oscar media boost rather than a one-day spike.
Examining the coverage trends for each nominated film from January 1st to March 7th, Anora (see the purple line) consistently held a middle-ranking position in media mentions leading up to the Oscars. However, following its Best Picture win, it was the only film that did not experience a decline in coverage—instead, Anora saw a notable increase, reinforcing the impact of the ‘Oscar Bump’ on media attention.
To further analyze the momentum of Anora’s post-Oscar coverage from March 3rd to 7th, a day-by-day trend reveals that it remained the most mentioned film among the ten nominees throughout this period. Conversely, by March 7th, Anora was overtaken by Conclave and Wicked.
Anora’s Media Coverage – The Conversation
Agility’s media mentions provide access to the content of the coverage retrieved using our specified keywords within the given date range. By combining this data with AI-driven content analysis, we gained insight into how Anora was discussed both before and after its Oscar win. This analysis helps us understand the factors contributing to Anora’s moderate pre-Oscar coverage, as well as the key themes driving its dominant media presence in the days following its Best Picture victory.
January 1st – March 2nd: Pre-Oscar Win
Anora received significant media attention leading up to the Oscars, bolstered by nominations and wins at other major award shows. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Sean Baker), Best Actress (Mikey Madison), and Best Supporting Actor (Yura Borisov). Madison won Best Actress at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, while Anora secured the Palme d’Or at Cannes and earned top honors from the Directors Guild (DGA) and Producers Guild (PGA).
Director Sean Baker expressed surprise at the film’s widespread recognition, believing its subject matter—a Brooklyn sex worker’s romance with a Russian oligarch’s son—might be too divisive for awards recognition. Anora was praised for its unique blend of comedy and drama, as well as Madison’s performance. It was also cited as an example of how inventive marketing can help indie films succeed despite a limited budget and lack of A-list actors. If Anora won Best Picture, it would—excluding pandemic years—be the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner in modern history.
Between January 1st and March 2nd, media coverage of Anora focused on its evolving status in the Oscar race. Initially, its Cannes win positioned it as a strong contender, but after failing to win at the Golden Globes, excitement shifted to other films, including The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, and Emilia Pérez. However, Anora regained momentum after winning the PGA, DGA, and Critics Choice Awards—key indicators of Best Picture success.
Variety and other publications noted that the race had narrowed to Anora and Conclave. While Anora‘s guild wins reinforced its frontrunner status, some commentators pointed out that past films like La La Land, Brokeback Mountain, and Saving Private Ryan had also won the PGA and DGA but ultimately lost Best Picture. The Oscars’ preferential ballot system was frequently discussed, with some suggesting Conclave could emerge as a consensus pick.
In summary, while Anora was widely considered the Best Picture frontrunner—particularly after its major guild wins—media coverage acknowledged that other films still posed a competitive threat.
March 3rd – March 7th: Post-Oscar Win
Anora’s Best Picture win generated significant media attention, further amplified by its victories in four additional categories: Best Director (Sean Baker), Best Actress (Mikey Madison), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. This widespread recognition made the film a central topic of discussion. Madison’s win was a surprise to some, as she triumphed over industry veterans like Demi Moore, who had been considered a frontrunner.
Notably, Anora became only the third film in history to win both the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Picture. Sean Baker’s four-Oscar sweep was another major talking point, as he joined Walt Disney as one of the only individuals to win four Oscars in a single night. Additionally, media reports highlighted that the film’s Oscar campaign budget was three times its production budget, an unusual feat for an independent film.
The film’s success was widely viewed as a significant victory for independent cinema, demonstrating that smaller-budget films can outperform major studio productions. With a modest $6 million budget, Anora grossed over $40 million worldwide, sparking discussions on how it outperformed big-budget competitors. Many commentators framed its win as a statement by Hollywood in support of theatrical filmmaking and a move away from the dominance of streaming platforms. Baker reinforced this message in his acceptance speech, passionately advocating for the theatrical experience and independent filmmakers.
As an independent film, Anora’s Best Picture win was particularly remarkable. After being shut out at the Golden Globes, its Oscar triumph came as a surprise to some. The film also defied typical “Oscar bait” characteristics, signaling a shift in the Academy’s recognition of more unconventional storytelling. Media coverage highlighted several aspects that set Anora apart: its sexually explicit content, lack of major studio backing, arthouse sensibility, low budget, genre-defying nature, focus on marginalized characters (such as a sex worker), and subversion of traditional tropes—often described as an inversion of Pretty Woman. Its complex and potentially controversial themes, which asked audiences to empathize with morally ambiguous characters, further distinguished it from past Best Picture winners.
Overall, the media framed Anora’s Oscar success as a watershed moment for independent cinema, celebrating its bold storytelling, strong direction, and reaffirmation of the theatrical experience.
Final Note – Agility as a Media Analysis Tool
To conclude, this analysis demonstrates how Agility’s media monitoring and analysis platform can be leveraged to gain valuable insights into any media-driven topic. Below, we outline the platform’s key capabilities and how other Agility users can conduct similar analyses.
Agility as a Tool for Media-Content Tracking
Agility enables users to retrieve media coverage on any topic by utilizing keyword searches, which can be further refined with Boolean operators for precision or broadness. The platform provides access to up to a year’s worth of historical data from traditional media sources, including online news, television, radio, and print. This analysis of the ten Best Picture nominees at the Oscars showcased Agility’s ability to compile and analyze relevant media content. Additionally, Agility supports social media monitoring, though this feature requires pre-configured keyword tracking to ingest relevant content in real time.
Agility as a Tool for Quantitative Media Analysis
Beyond retrieving media coverage, Agility offers built-in tools to quantify media presence and trends. Each search yields key metrics, including total mentions and impressions. The platform also provides various data visualization options, such as bar charts and trend graphs—both of which were used in this analysis—to illustrate coverage patterns over time. Additional visualization tools such as pie charts to track things such as share of voice, heat maps that show coverage by region, charts that show coverage quality, and other visualizations with various uses (e.g., top authors, top outlets, top hashtags, tone/sentiment) can also be useful for media analysis.
Agility as a Tool for Qualitative Media Analysis
Agility’s results not only include quantitative data but also provide access to the full content of retrieved media articles and broadcast segments. This allows analysts to conduct qualitative assessments, identifying key themes and narratives within media coverage.
In this analysis, Agility’s data was combined with AI-driven content analysis to determine how the media framed Anora before and after its Best Picture win. This approach can be applied to any topic, helping professionals derive meaningful insights from both numerical trends and contextual narratives. Additionally, AI-powered analysis significantly reduces the time and effort required compared to manually reviewing large volumes of media content. By exporting article content from Agility’s platform, users can seamlessly feed it into AI software for a rapid and efficient qualitative assessment.
Overall, Agility serves as a powerful tool for both quantitative and qualitative media analysis, enabling users to track media trends, assess brand reputation, and uncover key narratives shaping public discourse.
This research was conducted by Agility PR Solutions’ team of media analysis experts.
