Two Columbia Affiliated Film won the top awards at 2017 Academy Awards. Moonlight, which was produced by Veronica Nickel ‘10 won Best Picture and Zootopia, which was written by Phil Johnston ‘04, won Best Animated Feature Film.
In an exciting and unprecedented Oscar night, Moonlight took home the award for Best Picture, quite literally taking the stage from front-runner La La Land. Moonlight is one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. It also took home awards for Best Supporting Actor and Best Writing Adapted Screenplay. It was nominated in five other categories - Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Original Music Score, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing - and it marked the first time a black filmmaker was nominated for writing, directing, and best picture, and the first time a Black woman was nominated for Editing. It won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama, the Critics Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, The Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as numerous others from the NAACP, New York Film Critics, Gotham Independent, and more.
Zootopia went home with the prize for Best Animated Feature. It has also been a critical and commercial smash. In addition to grossing over a billion dollars worldwide, the film won The Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature and The Annie Award for Best Animated Award. It also took home five other prizes at the Annie Awards, including Directing and Character Design. It was also awarded prizes from the New York Film Critics Circle and the PGA.