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| There are few "true" indie production studios
out there. Most indie studios are instead divisions or subdivisions of larger
companies. This often has an effect on how award campaigns are run, and even how
release dates happen.
In the last 10 years, the largest contenders for major categories have been Miramax, Paramount, Universal, DreamWorks, Columbia, Warner and Buena Vista (Disney's studio name.) Some newer studios, however, have been coming on strong in recent years, most notably Focus and Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) (Note that I'm not including New Line here, as the majority of their tally comes entirely from LOTR.) Big guys Warner and Columbia have also slipped sharply, with Warner getting the bulk of its recent noms in technical categories for its big summer pictures. Worth a note for 2004: Miramax is still a powerhouse, but it's lost a bit of its dominance in the last couple of years due to controversial marketing choices. They also have been having big troubles recently with the parent company, and have threatened to split off and go indie (subdivision Dimension would likely stay back with Disney) although now that much-hated Disney CEO Michael Eisner won't be renewing his contract, the bros. Weinstein might be persuaded to stay with The Mouse. They also recently slashed their staff, laying off 120 of 485 workers, primarily in marketing and publicity, which calls into question their ability to mount major award campaigns this year. Miramax had several major contenders this year, but recently pushed back release dates for Dear Frankie, Proof and An Unfinished life. It remains to be seen which of their remaining contenders they throw the majority of their now-slimmer weight behind (my guess is that they'll tip The Aviator for Picture and Director, and mount their Best Actor campaign for Depp rather than DiCaprio.) Also, one of the biggest contenders every year, DreamWorks, doesn't have a major fall release scheduled this year. This opens the field up considerably. So here's what each of the studios and their subsidiaries are offering in the major categories this year. Items in bold are likely big contenders. More category contenders may be added or removed as buzz indicates. Links are to the FYC sites for the studios. More as they start getting going. Disney
+- Dimension is a division of Miramax Warner
+- Possible foreign language submission Universal
+- Possible foreign language submission Fox
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