The High Cost of Gold

The red carpets have been rolled up, but the accounting department is just getting started. This year's "Award Season" was the most expensive in history, with studios spending an estimated $200 million on "For Your Consideration" campaigns alone.

Is it worth it? The "Oscar Bump"—the historical increase in box office revenue after a win—has diminished significantly in the streaming era.

Prestige vs. Profit

"It plays to the ego of the talent," says an anonymous studio executive. "We don't buy billboards on Sunset Boulevard to sell tickets; we buy them so the director sees them on his drive to work and signs with us for his next movie."

The risk, however, is donor fatigue and public backlash. In a year of economic uncertainty, the spectacle of excess has drawn sharper criticism on social media, with viewership numbers for the ceremonies themselves continuing their decade-long decline.