In recent years, streaming services have managed to almost completely take over as the primary way for people to receive their content. This past year, more than ever, these streaming services have become even more valuable due to most theatres being closed and people having to watch some of the biggest releases at home. While it can often seem like a race between the companies of who can put out the most content regardless of quality, awards season is when the best projects get the recognition they deserve.
Although there are many different ceremonies dedicated to awarding these projects, the Oscars are easily the biggest and most important. Each year, more and more projects that were either distributed or created by streaming services get acknowledged by the Academy and even though most don’t end up taking the trophies home, it’s still considered an honor to be nominated.
Apple TV+ – 2
![Every Streaming Service, Ranked By Number Of 2021 Oscar Nominations](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Tom-Hanks-in-Greyhound-2020.jpg)
Out of all the streaming services, Apple is probably the one with the least amount of original content which is also why it received only two nominations overall. The first one was for Greyhound in the Best Sound category, which was split in two during previous years, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. The second one was for Wolfwalkers which went up against Disney+ and Netflix for Best Animated Feature.
While they’ve put out several hit shows like Ted Lasso and The Morning Show, which managed to win the company its first Golden Globe and its first Emmy, so far, their movies haven’t received that same attention. Even this year, Cherry, which had a pretty active campaign and was submitted for major categories like Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Lead Actress for Ciara Bravo, Best Lead Actor for Tom Holland, and Best Picture, was completely shut out of the ceremony.
HBO Max – 7
![Fred gives public speech in Judas and the Black Messiah](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Judas-and-the-Black-Messiah-2.jpg)
HBO Max is one of the newest streaming services after launching in May of 2020 and although that does mean they have a limited selection of original movies, that didn’t stop them from receiving over 7 nominations for just 2 projects.
While they did receive Best Makeup and Hairstyling as well as Best Costume Design nominations for Emma, the majority of their nominations came from Judas and the Black Messiah which earned Best Supporting Actor nominations for the movie’s two leads, Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya, in addition to nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Song for “Fight For You” by H.E.R. The movie was also one of the 8 projects in the running for Best Picture making it the second most nominated movie of the night.
Disney+ – 8
![Joe Gardener From Soul walking While on The Phone](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Soul-Of-The-City.jpg)
While Disney+ does have a wide catalog of movies, the projects that they put out are supposed to appeal to families which often limits the amount of attention they get during the Oscars to the visual effects and animated categories.
As a result, the company often has two or more projects going up against each other in the same category which is the case this year with Onward and Soul, which was also nominated for Best Sound and Best Original Score, both competing for Best Animated Feature as well as The One and Only Ivan and Mulan, which was also nominated for Best Costume Design, competing for Best Visual Effects. In addition, Disney+ also received nominations for Best Animated Short for Burrow.
Hulu – 9
![Fern walking through a field in Nomadland](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Chloe-Zhao-Nomadland.jpg)
Despite getting the least amount of nominations out of the more established streaming services, Hulu still managed to get noticed for movies like Another Round, which was up for Best Director for Thomas Vinterberg and Best International Feature Film, as well as The Mole Agent which was up for Best Documentary Feature.
While Andra Day surprised everyone again after earning a nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday like she did at the Golden Globes, she went up against Frances McDormand who was nominated for another Hulu movie, Nomadland. In fact, Nomadland, which was directed by Chloé Zhao, was the project that earned Hulu most of its nominations with Zhao herself being nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The movie also got nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Picture, the latter of which it ended up winning.
Amazon Prime – 12
![Riz Ahmed as drummer Ruben Stone during a concert in Sound of Metal](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Riz-Ahmed-Sound-Of-Metal.jpg)
In second place for the most amount of nominations is Amazon Prime which is certainly an improvement from the one nomination the service received last year in the Best International Feature Film category. While One Night in Miami surprisingly wasn’t able to secure nominations in the Best Picture or Best Director categories despite the early buzz that it would, it was able to get nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, which Borat Subsequent MovieFilm was also up for in addition to a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Maria Bakalova.
One Night In Miami‘s Leslie Odom, Jr. was also able to get two nominations, Best Supporting Actor for his role as a Sam Cooke and Best Original Song for his hand in “Speak Now”. Sound of Metal was the only movie from Amazon to earn nominations for Best Picture and it also got nominated for Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Lead Actor for Riz Ahmed.
Netflix – 36
![Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom featured](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Chadwick-Boseman-in-Ma-Raineys-Black-Bottom-featured.jpg)
There’s a reason that when people think of streaming services, Netflix is often the first one that comes to mind. For the past few years, the service has been producing some of the highest quality content which explains why they received so much awards recognition. Netflix led the pack again this year, earning 36 nominations in total which is almost as much as the number of nominations the other streaming services got combined.
This year, in addition to having multiple nominations in virtually every category including Best Original Song, Best Animated Feature, and Best Documentary, they also led in Best Picture nominations as well, earning ones for The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Mank, which was the most awarded movie of the night. Another category that Netflix dominated this year was Best Lead Actor. In addition to the late Chadwick Boseman’s nomination for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, both Gary Oldman and Sacha Baron Cohen also earned one for Mank and The Trial of the Chicago 7, respectively.