Winners of the Oscar for Best Picture, "Shakespeare in Love" in 1999. From left are: David Parfitt, Donna Gigliotti, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick, and Marc Morman.
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Hector Mata
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AFP via Getty Images
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Topline:
Campaigning for the Oscars is a tale almost as old as the award’s ceremony itself.
Why it matters: Today, it's typical for studios to shell out millions of dollars on billboards, magazine ads, and orchestrated Q+A screenings as a way to sway the thousands of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters their way. It was the 1999 award season that completely changed the game.
Why now: Scott Feinberg, a veteran awards columnist for The Hollywood Reporter says the people Shakespeare in Love blitz have spread out in the industry. “So all of the things that were happening that season have had reverberations for now, over two decades since.”
Go deeper: ...to learn more about Hollywood's history of campaigning for the Oscars ahead of this year's March 10th ceremony.
Campaigning for the Oscars is a tale almost as old as the award’s ceremony itself.
Today, it's typical for studios to shell out millions of dollars on billboards, magazine ads, and orchestrated Q+A screenings as a way to sway the thousands of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters their way.
If you venture into Hollywood during award season, the phrase “for your consideration” pops up on ads like clockwork, towering over the city streets as a polite but firm reminder to cast your ballots.
Origins of FYC
Randy Haberkamp, Senior Vice President of Preservation and Foundation Programs at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, says Hollywood history puts the origin of the "for your consideration" phrase around 1947-48.
"RKO used that terminology for the first time," he said in an episode of LAist's The Academy Museum Podcast. "And everybody saw that and said, you know, that's a very polite way of saying vote for me. [laughing] Just, just consider me. Don't, you know, I'm not saying you got to do this. I'm just saying consider this. Yeah. And it's stuck."
Jacqueline Stewart is the director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and host of the Academy Museum Podcast, a collaboration with LAist studios.
She said while campaigning has always been part of the process, the 1999 award season completely changed the game.
About the game-changing 71st Academy Awards
(From L-R) Best Actress Gwyneth Paltrow for "Shakespeare In Love", Best Supporting Actress Judi Dench for "Shakespeare In Love", Best Supporting Actor James Coburn for "Affliction", and Best Actor Roberto Benigni for "Life Is Beautiful" at the 1999 Oscar ceremony.
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Hector Mata
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AFP via Getty Images
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In the summer of 1998, the first episodes of Sex and the City were airing on HBO, Leonardo DiCaprio was a 24-year-old heartthrob, and Saving Private Ryan was taking the world by storm.
Steven Spielberg’s film was a favorite to win one of the highest honors at the Oscars — Best Picture. But when the award went to Shakespeare in Love instead, that night went down as one of the biggest upsets in award show history.
The romantic period piece was certainly well liked at the time, but it was the campaigning and marketing for the movie that secured the shocking win.
Scott Feinberg is a veteran awards columnist for the Hollywood Reporter. He told the Academy Museum Podcast that Miramax, then under the leadership of Harvey Weinstein, was the first company to hire an in-house publicist who was specifically devoted to awards campaigning.
Feinberg said Miramax was also the first to host private screenings for Academy members in Aspen and other popular vacation destinations over holiday breaks, which made it easier for voters to catch up on their choices.
Miramax invested a lot of time, money, and resources into that Oscars campaign, and when it paid off, other studios took note.
Stewart said the 1999 win essentially made it a requirement to compete for the awards, and it became increasingly common to have entire teams of publicists and consultants dedicated to the season.
“All of the people who were at the center of the Shakespeare in Love Oscar campaign for Miramax have since kind of fanned out across town and now run the awards campaigns for all the different places that are in the game,” Feinberg said. “So all of the things that were happening that season have had reverberations for now, over two decades since.”
What happens if you don’t campaign?
In 2010, Mo'Nique was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for playing Mary Lee Johnston, an abusive mother, in Precious.
But the actor has said she was “blackballed” because she refused to go above and beyond to promote the film.
Mo'Nique told the Academy Museum Podcast she was encouraged to schmooze and spend time with Academy voters, even though it put a serious strain on her personal life.
“The performance is on the screen,” she said. “Y'all are making this now personal. I don't need to have a personal relationship with any of these people, nor do they need to have one with me. They're judging the performance.”
Mo'Nique said campaigning as a Black woman is different for her than it is for a male or white actor. She got paid $50,000 for Precious, and Mo'Nique said she was expected to pay for all the extra hair, makeup, and wardrobe for campaign events out of pocket.
Even though she refused to play the campaign game, Mo'Nique won her first Oscar that year.
Mo'Nique accepts Best Supporting Actress award for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" onstage during the 82nd Annual Academy Awards held at Kodak Theatre on March 7, 2010 in Hollywood, California.
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Kevin Winter
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Getty Images North America
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“The Academy did prove — it's not about the politics,” she said. “It is about the performance. That's what the Academy was saying when they called my name.”
But for many people in Hollywood like Mo'Nique, the real award is getting to see the impact of their best work.
After a screening of Precious at the Sundance film festival, Mo'Nique said a man approached her in tears to compliment her performance.
“Awards baby, they grow dust, and they sit on a shelf,” she said. “But that man's life is forever changed. So an award can't touch that for me.”
How this year is different
Stewart said Miramax’s aggressive tactics from 25 years ago have become the unwritten rules that are critical for Oscar campaigns, especially when there’s so many movies fighting for voters’ attention.
But what happens when Hollywood can’t campaign, like during the double strikes?
Angelique Jackson is a senior entertainment writer for Variety. She told AirTalk the strikes have affected the Oscar field significantly.
Jackson said if you look back at the way it played out, the summer blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer were some of the last films to get their big red carpet debuts.
But even they weren’t able to escape unscathed.
The London premiere for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer last June should have been a textbook campaign event for the cast. But when SAG-AFTRA called the strike just before the screening, Nolan told the audience the stars left early to start making picket signs.
But for The Color Purple, Jackson noted the movie didn’t get its first major screening for Academy voters until after the strike ended in early November.
“Enough people had kind of been able to see it for Danielle [Brooks] to get in, but because of the strikes and people not being able to promote their films for so long, a lot of things either flew under the radar or they kind of got their wings a little bit late,” Jackson said.
She added that it’s been a very different season so far, and it’s only going to continue as the ceremony gets closer.
Looking back
Donna Gigliotti, a film producer who took home an Oscar for her work on Shakespeare in Love, said it was clear to her that campaigning moved the needle. That night, in addition to Best Picture, Gwyneth Paltrow won for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Judi Dench won for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
"I don't think he'll mind my saying this, but Joe Fiennes did not, he didn't want to participate and he doesn't have an Oscar," Gigliotti said. "You can see where it works, because Judi Dench for her 12 minutes of film does in fact have an Oscar on her show."
Asked by Stewart if campaigning should play an important role in the film industry, Gigliotti said this:
"No, I think it's, I think it's absolutely out of control. And I wish no one would campaign."
Proposed tax increase to pay for landslide damages
Yusra Farzan
has been covering the Rancho Palos Verdes landslide since 2023.
Published October 16, 2026 5:00 AM
An aerial view of the Terranea Resort.
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Robert Gauthier
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
Rancho Palos Verdes is turning to its best-known attraction to pay for landslide-related damages. Come November, voters in the city will be asked to vote on a ballot measure that would raise the tax on overnight guests at Terranea Resort and a small, lesser-known inn.
Why it matters: Rancho Palos Verdes’ landslide woes have hit the city’s coffers hard. By the end of June 2027, the city will have spent around $75 million just on landslide-related damages over the last three and a half years. Voters in the city are being asked to vote on Measure RS, which would increase the tax overnight hotel guests pay from 10% to 13%. A two-star inn in the city would also be affected if the tax measure passes. If Measure RS passes, it could bring in around $2.2 million annually.
How we got here: The Portuguese Bend area in Rancho Palos Verdes was once green rolling hills offering spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Now, much of that land is riddled with 20-foot chasms, some spanning 12 feet. For decades, land movement was minimal. But with above-average rainfall in 2022 and 2023, that movement rapidly accelerated — up to 1 foot per week in some places. Land movement has since slowed to about an inch a week, thanks in part to wells the city installed that suck water out of the ground. But damage to the area remains and will likely never be abated.
RPV has spent a significant amount of money to lessen the erosion.
Rancho Palos Verdes’ landslide woes have hit the city’s coffers hard. By the end of June 2027, the city will have spent around $75 million just on landslide-related damages over the last three and a half years.
So now, they are looking at one of the city’s best-known attractions for help: the Terranea Resort. Voters in the city are being asked to vote in November on Measure RS, which would increase the tax overnight hotel guests pay from 10% to 13%.
A two-star inn in the city would also be affected if the tax measure passes.
How would the tax help?
If Measure RS passes, it could bring in around $2.2 million annually.
“We reached out to Terranea as we were exploring different revenue streams and talked to them about the possibility of increasing the [transient occupancy tax] from 10% to 13%,” said Ara Mihranian, the city manager. “We looked at comparables of similar resort hotels in the greater Los Angeles area and Orange County that are generally their competitors or similar establishments to see where they ranked. And Terranea was below the market rate in terms of the transient occupancy tax.”
The 102-acre resort sits on bluffs along the coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean and offers guests casitas, villas and rooms that start at $350 and can exceed $1,500 during peak seasons.
A spokesperson for Terranea Resort declined to comment for this story.
How we got here
The Portuguese Bend area in Rancho Palos Verdes was once green rolling hills offering spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Now, much of that land is riddled with 20-foot chasms, some spanning 12 feet.
For decades, land movement was minimal. But with above-average rainfall in 2022 and 2023, that movement rapidly accelerated — up to 1 foot per week in some places. Land movement has since slowed to about an inch a week, thanks in part to wells the city installed that suck water out of the ground. But damage to the area remains and will likely never be abated.
RPV has spent a significant amount of money to lessen the erosion.
Mihranian said the city has filled fissures in the landslide area, installed protective lining in the canyons and has checked all the deep dewatering wells to make sure they can pump water out of the ground so it cannot collect and cause land movement — especially important ahead of El Niño.
“We're also making sure that the wells and the generators that support and energize the wells are encased and housed so that in the event of extreme weather, they are protected from any elements,” he said.
The city has also installed pipes along the main road through the landslide complex so that, instead of flooding the road, water will be diverted to the ocean.
Still, even if the measure passes, the $2.2 million annually will still not cover all landslide-related costs. A spokesperson told LAist the city is still “aggressively” pursuing grants to cover mounting costs.
A demonstrator holds a sign during a "No Kings" protest, Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Atlanta.
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Mike Stewart
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AP
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Topline:
"No Kings" protests are returning for a fourth round Saturday, Oct. 17.
Why now? This time, the focus is on the November midterms and getting people prepared to vote. Previous protests had drawn large crowds.
Read on ... to find details and information.
"No Kings" protests are returning for a fourth round Saturday, Oct. 17.
This time, the focus is on the November midterms and getting people prepared to vote. Previous protests had drawn large crowds.
"We expect tens of thousands of people to attend the various No Kings rallies throughout the greater Los Angeles area, and we would not be surprised to see tens of thousands at the downtown rally itself," said Nick Miller, a press coordinator with 50501 SoCal, a partnering organization.
That protest is taking place at 1 p.m. at Gloria Molina Grand Park.
LAPD said they are aware of the rally and don’t anticipate any issues.
Pasadena, Long Beach and Riverside are also holding rallies.
Where are they happening in SoCal?
Burbank: 10 a.m. to noon at Abraham Lincoln Park
Culver City: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Culver City Hall
Downtown L.A.: 1 to 5 p.m. at Gloria Molina Grand Park
Fontana: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Seville Park
Huntington Beach: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Huntington Beach Pier
Irvine: 3. to 5 p.m. at Trabuco Center
Pasadena: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Colorado Boulevard and Fair Oaks Avenue
Riverside: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Market Street and University Avenue
Santa Clarita: 9 a.m. to noon at Valencia Boulevard and McBean Parkway
Torrance: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Torrance City Hall
Whittier: 12:30 to 2 p.m. at Whittier City Hall
Keep up with LAist.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 14: Max Muncy #13, Tommy Edman #25, Mookie Betts #50, Freddie Freeman #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers look on during a pitching change during the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in game three of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium on October 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
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Sean M. Haffey
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Getty Images North America
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Topline:
Milwaukee’s brilliant bullpen slammed the door late and the Brewers rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Thursday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series to earn their first trip to the World Series since 1982.
What happened: Shohei Ohtani’s first home run this postseason helped put the Dodgers ahead 4-0 in the second inning before the Brewers came back to complete a four-game sweep of the two-time defending World Series champions a year after getting swept by Los Angeles in the NLCS.
Garrett Mitchell hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning, Milwaukee’s brilliant bullpen slammed the door late and the Brewers rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Thursday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series to earn their first trip to the World Series since 1982.
No. 9 hitter David Hamilton’s two-out solo shot off Edwin Díaz gave the Brewers a two-run cushion in the ninth. Hamilton had just four homers in the regular season.
“We got down early tonight and we were like, it’s going to be a great story,” Brewers captain Christian Yelich said. “We’re going to come back and win this. Like, stay together, start chipping away. And that’s exactly what they did.”
Shohei Ohtani’s first home run this postseason helped put the Dodgers ahead 4-0 in the second inning before the Brewers came back to complete a four-game sweep of the two-time defending World Series champions a year after getting swept by Los Angeles in the NLCS.
Milwaukee became the first major league club to complete a postseason sweep after getting swept by that same opponent in the previous postseason.
“Playing with that chip on our shoulder,” Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby said. “You don’t ever know what to expect going into a series like that last year. You don’t know how bad it can be, and then it was as bad as it was. And we came out and we survived, and we came back this year, and those guys played their tails off.”
The Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games in their only other World Series appearance, when Milwaukee played in the American League.
With the score tied 4-all, Mitchell fell behind 0-2 before reliever Tanner Scott threw three straight balls for a full count. Mitchell’s 409-foot leadoff drive to center field — the first homer of his career on an 0-2 count — put the Brewers ahead for the first time. Mitchell also homered in their 6-2 victory Wednesday.null
“I’ve always dreamt of moments like these as a kid,” Mitchell said.
The Brewers’ bullpen coolly turned away multiple threats when the Dodgers had the potential tying run on base.
Winning pitcher JoJo Romero struck out Max Muncy with Kyle Tucker at third to end the sixth.
Ashby, who worked three scoreless innings for a save, struck out Ohtani swinging before Mookie Betts grounded out with Andy Pages at third to end the seventh. Will Smith doubled to right with one out in the eighth and was safe at third when the ball got away from Sal Frelick for an error before Ashby got Tucker to fly out and Teoscar Hernández to strike out.
The Brewers tied it in the fifth, when the Dodgers bullpen issued four walks and Milwaukee stole two bases. Hamilton’s single chased starter Tyler Glasnow and scored Frelick, who walked and stole second, to pull Milwaukee to 4-3.
Alex Vesia came in and promptly walked Brice Turang and William Contreras to load the bases. Vesia then walked NLCS MVP Jake Bauers with two outs to force in Hamilton with the tying run.
Glasnow retired his first 10 batters — six on strikeouts — before the Brewers got to him in the fourth. Turang walked, Contreras hit a ground-rule double and Bauers followed with another ground-rule double that closed Milwaukee to 4-2.
Ohtani broke out of his postseason slump with a three-run homer after Pages’ RBI single in the second. The four-time MVP released weeks of pent-up frustration by raising his arms and yelling and the crowd of 49,104 joined him in celebration.
Matthew Ballinger
is the senior editor for climate and environment coverage at LAist.
Published October 15, 2026 5:52 PM
The Henderson Fire sparked Thursday afternoon at Camp Pendleton.
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Alert California
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UC San Diego
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Topline:
Parts of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton have been ordered to evacuate, and the 5 Freeway has been closed in both directions as a wildfire burns in the area. The Henderson Fire had charred more than 1,100 acres as of 4:40 p.m.
What we know so far: The 5 Freeway was closed between Harbor Drive, near Oceanside, and Basilone Road, near the Orange County line. The Camp Pendleton Fire Department was fighting the fire, according to Cal Fire.
Read on ... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This is a developing story. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Parts of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton have been ordered to evacuate, and the 5 Freeway was briefly closed in both directions due to a wildfire in the area. The Henderson Fire had charred more than 1,118 acres as of 7 p.m.
CHP closed the 5 Freeway between Harbor Drive, near Oceanside, and Basilone Road, near the Orange County line, but began reopening the interstate just before 6 p.m.
The Camp Pendleton Fire Department was fighting the fire, according to Cal Fire.
The basics
Acreage: 1,118 acres as of Thursday afternoon
Containment: 0%
Structures destroyed: None reported
Deaths: None reported
Injuries: None reported
Evacuation orders
According to Cal Fire: "An evacuation order has been published for the Las Flores (41 Area). All affected personnel, please evacuate to Paige Field House, located in the 11 Area." A secondary evacuation point was set up at 21 Area gym, according to the Camp Pendleton Facebook page.
Road closures
5 Freeway between Basilone Road and Harbor Drive, but it was being reopened.
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