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Jeff Bezos and Amazon Had a Pretty Awesome Night at the Oscars

By:
Brad Tuttle
2 min read
Jeff Bezos's Amazon Studios served as distributor for Oscar winners "Manchester by the Sea" and "The Salesman." - Mike Coppola/VF17—Getty Images for VF
Jeff Bezos's Amazon Studios served as distributor for Oscar winners "Manchester by the Sea" and "The Salesman." Mike Coppola/VF17—Getty Images for VF

The awards for best product placement at last night's Academy Awards ceremony probably went to Red Vines and Junior Mints, which were parachuted in from the ceiling to hungry celebrities in the audience. But e-retail giant Amazon.com got some pretty amazing free publicity during the ceremony, too.

In his opening monologue, host Jimmy Kimmel gave a shoutout to Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, which this year became the first video streaming company to ever receive an Academy Award nomination. "If you win tonight, you can expect your Oscar to arrive in two to five business days," Kimmel joked.

Sure enough, Bezos and Amazon won big. As Geekwire reported, Amazon Studios, the distributor for Manchester by the Sea and The Salesman, won three Academy Awards on Sunday. Casey Affleck and Kenneth Lonergan won Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay awards, respectively, for their work on Manchester by the Sea, and The Salesman claimed the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

In a series of tweets, Bezos was quick to offer praise for the wins, plus some plugs for Amazon Studios:

Bezos's company already dominates the e-retail world and is a big player in streaming video with its Prime services. Amazon won its first Emmys in 2015, with five awards for its the original series Transparent. Now that Amazon has won its first Oscars, the company appears primed to gain an even higher profile in Hollywood and the entertainment business as well.

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