• by Wayne Friedman , March 3, 2025

As the biggest movie studio brand names continue to spend heavily on TV advertising for major movie releases, small film distributor Neon took home five Oscars for the independent movie “Anora” during ABC Television Network's airing of “The 97th Academy Awards” on Sunday.

The film won for best picture, best editing, best director, best original screenplay and best actress and was the most awarded of any film nominated.

“Anora” is about a young escort from Brooklyn who meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch.

Walt Disney’ s ABC telecast was simulcast with Hulu -- the first streaming platform ever to air the program. Hulu had major technical glitches for its streaming users including widespread outages as well as abrupt ending of the show before the main awards including Best Actress and Best Picture were announced.

To date, “Anora” has taken in $15.7 million domestically in box-office revenue since opening in October 2024, and $41.0 million worldwide, according to IMDb Box Office Mojo.

Last year Neon spent a total of $289,540 for all movies it released in national TV advertising, according to EDO Ad EnGage.

For this year's season-to-date, Neon has spent $597,050 on national TV advertising -- all for “The Monkey,” now in its second week of release. It has totaled $24.6 million in domestic box-office revenue, according to Comscore.

Two months into this season, Universal Pictures has spent the most on national TV advertising for theatrical movies at $45.2 million, according to EDO Ad EnGage.

Walt Disney is next at $38.1 million, followed by Warner Bros. Pictures with $20.7 million, Paramount Pictures at $17.7 million, Focus Features with $13.9 million and Lionsgate Films at $10.6 million.