Oscars for sale

Premiya-Oskar

It's well-known that the British cinema industry is concentrated around a few airing-cupboard offices in London's Soho. In fact, with the digital revolution a tiny room at the top of a west-end stair can be enough to run the show. The Soho connection is important - and the important word is "connection". Same as in the music and broadcasting business. If you want to make your mark you probably are still best doing it in Soho (despite the universal complaints that it's not what it used to be) - and the other two requirements are tenacity and loads of money. If you have all these sorted you can join the struggle for an Oscar, which nevertheless has to look like an unexpected surprise when it comes. Today (Thursday January 15th), the nominations are announced, and over in the USA backstage the struggle continues. This week's guest blog has the story: http://stephenfollows.com/how-much-does-a-hollywood-oscar-campaign-cost/