In Bid to Conquer Oscars, Netflix Mobilizes Savvy Campaigner and Huge Budget
Even so, Ms. Taback is the only one to work for Netflix, which has poured money into its hunt for Emmys and Oscars on a scale that Hollywood executives say they have rarely if ever seen before. Most studios, for instance, sent a couple of movies on DVD to voters for consideration this season. Netflix sent 17.
A Netflix spokesman said this reflected the large number of films the company is now producing, which is why, unlike most Hollywood studios, it decided to bring its entire award effort in-house.
Ms. Taback, who grew up in Los Gatos, Calif., where Netflix is based, previously ran her own company, LT-LA Communications, and in recent years worked for studios like Lionsgate, A24, Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox. She brought her entire LT-LA staff to Netflix, where the awards department now has roughly 20 people.
The “Roma” campaign started in some ways on Aug. 13, when Ms. Taback and Netflix’s film publicity chief, Julie Fontaine, got buzz started by inviting a handful of film reporters (this one included) to an off-the-record cocktail party and screening of footage. Mr. Cuarón was on hand to chat afterward.
Then came screenings for the film at a string of important festivals. As the campaign intensified, Netflix had celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron host “tastemaker” screenings in Hollywood for Oscar voters. There were parties at restaurants like Spago in Los Angeles and the Pool in New York.
Additionally, mailers went out to voters of awards groups that are important stops on the route to the Oscars: an elaborate pamphlet containing a digital player that ran the “Roma” trailer on loop; Mexican chocolates with a note (“!FELICES FIESTAS!”) from one of the film’s actresses; a six-pound, $175 book of stills.
A barrage of ads in Los Angeles — in trade publications, on Netflix-owned billboards — continued for months.
