The backdrop of the stage with the Oscar Award is seen onstage during the 84th Academy Awards announcement held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Jan. 24, 2012 in Los Angeles.; Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The Academy Awards have made history with breakthroughs for minorities in the past — but with this year's nominations, observers are noting how white the Oscars are, with no actors of color nominated in any of this year's acting categories.

It marks the least diverse nominations since 1998. People have been speaking out about this disconnect, with films like "Selma" being shut out of the acting nominations (though it did pick up a Best Picture nomination).

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

When you sit down to watch the Oscars, what you are really watching is the final battle in a months-long war of financial engineering and campaign strategy. Because in Hollywood, every year is an election year. A small army of Oscars campaign strategists help studios and streamers deploy tens of millions of dollars to sway Academy voters. And the signs of these campaigns are everywhere — from the endless celebrity appearances on late night TV to the billboards along your daily commute.

On today's show, we hit the Oscars campaign trail to learn how these campaigns got so big in the first place. And we look into why Hollywood is still spending so much chasing gold statues, when the old playbook for how to make money on them is being rewritten.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Folks, it's been quite the ride. A final thought before everyone hands tonight's top award to "Argo" -- the Academy gave "Life of Pi" 11 nominations without any for acting. That's some broad support. Not that I had the guts to turn away from the "Argo" freight train in my...

It takes two weeks to dress the venue (which is in a mall, remember) for the occasion each year

Movies can’t, by definition, be all things to all people, and yet Anora—winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s highest honor, the Palme d’Or—manages to vacillate between assorted registers with stunning, and ultimately affecting, aplomb.

Another of The Florida Project and Red Rocket writer/director Sean Baker’s tales of marginalized individuals struggling to survive and find themselves in an often-unforgiving world, the film is a character study, romance, crime saga, screwball comedy, and vérité drama all wrapped into one unique and dexterous package. More impressive than its nimbleness, however, is its poise and empathy, the latter of which is chiefly bestowed upon its protagonist, whose life is thrown for a rollercoaster-grade loop-di-loop thanks to a chance introduction.

Ani (Mikey Madison, in a star-making turn) is a Brighton Beach 23-year-old who lives with her sister and earns a living stripping at a local club. Anora, which hits theaters Oct. 18, introduces her at the end of a long pan along a bench where men are receiving lap dances from erotic professionals. Fixating on Ani’s face as she flashes the fake smile that her customers crave and her superiors demand, Baker’s camera creates immediate, intimate engagement with the young woman, and that continues as it presents snapshots of her daily (or, rather, nightly) routine at her place of employment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Take a look at the pictures.

Stars get ready for Oscars!

Hollywood's biggest stars attended the 94th Annual Academy Awards.

India is shining, although I will argue that it is a temporary acceptance until India once again makes a mega-successful film like RRR or another beautiful, moving, documentary like The Elephant Whisperers, notes Aseem Chhabra.

Singer Billie Eilish moved everyone to tears when she performed the Barbie soundtrack, What Was I Made For?, at the Oscars 2024.

In the biggest surprise of the night, Emma Stone grabbed the Best Actress trophy for the complex portrayal of a Frankenstein-like character Bella, in Yargos Lanthimos' electrifying and most original film Poor Things. Aseem Chhabra recaps the 96th Annual Academy Awards.

Which of the 28 films in contention gets your vote?

'I believe FFI has made a mistake,' notes Aseem Chhabra.

To an award show that's famous for honouring artists belatedly, we have sent as our official entry one of our major film-makers's weakest work yet, feels Sreehari Nair.

How wonderful it would be for all of us to watch the Oscar ceremony on March 2, 2025 and watch AWIAL win an Oscar, notes Aseem Chhabra.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently announced its membership invitations, and Indian film celebrities Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Mani Ratnam, Karan Johar, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Chandrabose and MM Keeravaani have been invited to be members.

Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know, an award-winning Kannada short film by Film and Television Institute of India students, has qualified for the 2025 Oscars in the live action short film category.

The backdrop of the stage with the Oscar Award is seen onstage during the 84th Academy Awards announcement held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Jan. 24, 2012 in Los Angeles.; Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The Academy Awards have made history with breakthroughs for minorities in the past — but with this year's nominations, observers are noting how white the Oscars are, with no actors of color nominated in any of this year's acting categories.

It marks the least diverse nominations since 1998. People have been speaking out about this disconnect, with films like "Selma" being shut out of the acting nominations (though it did pick up a Best Picture nomination).

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Naomie Harris' 100% biodegradable Oscars gown, which took 120 hours to make, will be on display at the Hampton Court Palace in London.

From the Governor’s Ball to gift suites, Academy Awards events keep charity in mind.

Awards season is officially over — but not until we hand out the awards for best dressed at the Oscars afterparties.

I was still determined not to be the girl who moved across the country for a guy, but what would happen if I loosened my grip on that idea? After we dated almost a year, I applied for a job in Los Angeles and I got it. Just try it, I told myself. If it all falls apart, New York will always be there.

Bong Joon Ho's mesmerizing movie deserves to win best picture. But can it?

Sure, the Oscars are exciting, but what about the film moments they don't celebrate? That's where the Envy Awards step in.

A luxurious house in "Parasite" and visions of '80s urbanism in "Joker" paint vivid pictures of haves and have nots for #Oscars2020.

We can't control what wins best picture at the Academy Awards. Can we control our emotions when our favorite movie doesn't win?

I've spent 20 years covering the Oscars, and yes, they're splendid and ridiculous, flawed and inspirational. That's why they still matter.

"Did you know this is the 'Pretty Woman' hotel?" a publicist asked Dr. Amani Ballour.

'Harriet' star Cynthia Erivo already has a Daytime Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy. All that's left is Oscar — and she's nominated for two this year.

Join us backstage at the Academy Awards for behind-the-scenes bits with a jubilant Bong Joon Ho, an emotional Joaquin Phoenix, Billie Eilish, Spike Lee, Maya Rudolph and others.

While honoring last year's Governors Awards recipients, new Oscar winner Taika Waititi also saluted Los Angeles' ancestral lands during the 2020 Oscars.

Joaquin Phoenix gave a weighty speech about commonalities, cows and second chances after winning the Oscar for lead actor Sunday night. Read the transcript.

Joaquin Phoenix, who discussed animal cruelty in his acceptance speech, was one of several famous vegans at the Oscars, including Billie Eilish.

With "Parasite," the academy gave best picture to the actual best picture. It also made history.

More than film critics or a more international film academy, Netflix has proved that subtitles are a bridge, not a barrier.

Behind the scenes at this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the most prestigious car show in the world.

Coronavirus may have shut down movie theaters, but even if they stayed closed, we'd have a strong slate of Oscar contenders beyond Elisabeth Moss in "Invisible Man."

Following a strikingly white and male list of Bafta nominees, this year’s Academy Awards shortlists are barely more diverse. It’s a chronic problem in an industry running out of excuses for its slow pace of change. Lanre Bakare examines why the Oscars are still so white. Plus: Joan E Greve on a hectic week of US politics

When the lists of nominees for the major film awards in 2020 were announced, there was, once again, a glaring anomaly. Not a single person of colour was nominated in the Bafta acting categories, while the Oscars managed only Cynthia Erivo for her part in Harriet.

It is an issue that the industry is well aware of: in 2015, the ceremony saw #OscarsSoWhite trending on Twitter, while actors such as Eddie Murphy were rebuking the academy from the stage back in the 1990s. So what explains the glacial pace of change? Guardian arts and culture correspondent Lanre Bakare tells Anushka Asthana that there have been plenty of false dawns over the years in the quest for greater diversity.

The team behind The Artist will have spent the first day of the rest of their lives conforming to the grandest, and most lucrative, of Hollywood traditions.

The comic has presented the Golden Globes five times

Let's hope that unlike the Oscars, they make the right choices and open the right envelopes.

Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, 'declined the invitation' to present an award at the Oscars in LA on Sunday night, a source told HELLO! magazine.

While Tom Hanks was fully dressed in a tuxedo, he still found the time to exercise on the Oscars red carpet on Sunday night.

This Oscar winner may not have won another statuette at this past Sunday's awards bash, but she was still smiling ear to ear and has the pictures to prove it. 

Sunrise host David Koch has unleashed on a major Hollywood star who had an awkward run-in with Sonia Kruger at the Oscars on Sunday.

The 53-year-old actress admitted to being so excited about meeting Eminem backstage at The Oscars that she accidentally spilled water on him.

Susanna Reid reveals how a fake tan disaster left her embarrassed to leave her room. British TV presenter opted for artificial suntan in preparation for presenting the Good Morning Britain Oscars special.

LA's a fantastic place to be when the Oscars are on, the whole town buzzing with movie stars and endless glamorous parties

From Oscar week to New York Fashion Week, Emily Ratajkowski is a true jet-setter. Fresh off of attending the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in Beverly Hills, the model stepped out at Proenza Schouler.

In addition, the MoS is shortlisted for Sunday Newspaper of the Year, You for Magazine of the Year, and our City and finance staff for the Business and Finance Team award.