The actors and writers strikes hobbled Hollywood studios for half of 2023 and left disarray in many corners of the business, none more so than that always odd annual gathering of self-congratulation known as awards season.
Among the questions facing the industry: how much will the traditional studios spend on awards pushes this year, given their need to dramatically curtail costs and make profits on their streaming operations? How long will deep-pocketed Netflix, Amazon and Apple continue to rely on awards as a quality signifier as they build out their streaming and other ventures? The many questions set this awards season up for a lot of shifts and changes.
The most strike-related dislocation hit the Emmys, the biggest night in television. Normally held in the first 10 days or so of September, the strike pushed the Primetime Awards all the way to Jan. 15, in the middle of what’s mostly movie awards.