ICYMI: SSN’s Top Original Stories For The Week of 12/16 – 12/20

SSN Awards Mid-Season Overview: Oscar Potential Contenders

We’re deep into awards season here at SSN and this year is proving to be a tough one. Not because there’s a dearth of great films and performances to debate about, but precisely because there are so many awards-worthy films out there. It has been a banner year for features – check out our midseason report here. (SSN)

SSN’s Exclusive Academy Member Oscar Poll

SSN is bringing you an insider look at the candid thoughts and uncensored perspectives of a handful of anonymous Academy members. Our esteemed group comes from all walks of industry life, representing a wide range of guilds, professions, and perspectives. Here’s a current take from our anonymous panel, as they let us in on what they’ve seen so far. (SSN)

Marketing Your Movie to Oscar Gold

Marketing strategies can begin as early as a film’s script stage or as late as its pickup at a fall festival. Here are some of the strategies that producers and distribs use in parlaying a film’s critical acclaim into boffo box office. (SSN)

Breaking In and Out of the Oscar Foreign Language Film Category

If you can run the gauntlet of your home country’s film commission, earning the right to be your nation’s official submission, and be among the lucky five to get a nomination—the studios are paying attention—you too could find yourself at the threshold of Hollywood success. (SSN)

Oscar Shortlist: The Inside Story of The Lone Ranger’s Train Sequence

The Lone Ranger, directed by Gore Verbinski, was critically derided and financially ruinous. Yet come March 2, it could also be an Oscar winner. And for good reason: It featured the most jaw-dropping visual effects sequence of the year. (SSN)

Oscar Insight: Underdogs Hold the Edge in the Best Documentary Feature Competition

Since 1970, about two-thirds of Best Documentary Feature winners told the story of an underdog, more than half were political exposés and more than a third chronicled the horrors of war. (SSN)

Oscar Analysis Part Three: The Future of Warner Bros. Overflows with Legos, Hobbits & One Very Giant Lizard

No fewer than 18 films are already set for release on Warner’s 2014 slate, with plenty of others in various stages of production. The projects in question run the gamut from animated, to tentpole, to prestigious—fare that should keep Warner Bros. not only atop the total gross list, but also in the conversation once awards season rolls around again. (SSN)