Inside the 2025 Oscars: What Happened During the Commercial Breaks

Sorry, Emilia Pérez, it’s actually Anora’s world. We’re just living in it—and bringing you the behind-the-scenes Oscars details you didn’t see at home.

The little movie that could did pretty much everything at the 97th Oscars. Released by Neon, Anora won statues in five of its six nominated categories, including Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Actress for star Mikey Madison, Best Director for writer/director Sean Baker, and the big prize of the night, Best Picture. And Baker himself set an Oscar record by accepting four of those statues—the most wins for a single movie by the same nominee.

“This film was made on the blood, sweat, and tears of incredible indie artists,” Baker said after the Best Picture race was called in his favor. “Long live independent film.”

That’s a rallying cry that the audience in the Dolby Theater could get behind. ADWEEK watched the Oscars unfold from the second mezzanine of the awards show’s longtime home, and the back-to-back wins by Madison—who scored an upset victory over presumptive favorite Demi Moore for The Substance—and Anora in the show’s final act brought the curtain down to robust cheers and applause.

It was a big year for small movies beyond Anora, as well. The Latvian animated cat movie Flow successfully stalked and devoured Disney’s Inside Out 2 in the Animated Feature category. I was seated in the same row as some of the producers behind the film, and they leaped to their feet and roared as soon as their victory over the Mouse House was made official.

Meanwhile, the Best Documentary Feature Oscar went to the Palestinian-made feature No Other Land, which was never acquired by a U.S. distributor. And Brady Corbet’s shoestring-budgeted epic The Brutalist won three awards, including a second Best Actor statue for Adrien Brody. Prior to his win, I spied Brody greeting a parade of well-wishers at the orchestra-level bar.

After selling out the 97th Oscars, Disney Advertising helped bring viewers cinematic ads from partners, including Prudential and Visa. But here are the moments that happened during commercial breaks that viewers didn’t see on TV:

The Duke (Silver) Abides

For everyone watching along at home, Parks and Recreation favorite Nick Offerman was heard, but not seen, in his debut as the official announcer of the 97th Oscars. But those of us in the room got to see and hear him prior to the show going live on ABC and Hulu for the first time. Ahead of the Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo mini-concert that opened the show, Offerman took the stage and delivered a tight five minutes of warm-up patter and semi-stern advice to the winners.

“I’m here to deliver to you a grave warming: Please keep your speeches short,” he remarked. “There is no need to thank your agents, publicists, studio execs.” (Naturally, Offerman’s words went unheeded by most of the winners.)

Perhaps because the cameras weren’t rolling, Offerman also allowed himself to indulge in more overtly political humor than host Conan O’Brien would in his monologue. “Pursuant to a new executive order, you are required to explicitly thank commerce secretary Howard Lutnick,” he joked, referring to the Trump cabinet member. (Funnily enough, I saw Lutnick verbally wrestle with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog ahead of the election last fall.)

Offerman also fired a few shots at some closer-to-Hollywood targets. For example, he noted that it’s totally acceptable for newfound Oscar winners to drunk-text others about wanting to play an Avenger. “A real Avenger this time, not Hawkeye,” he added, eliciting scattered groans from fans of Jeremy Renner’s arrow-slinging hero.

Those groans continued when Offerman advised winners to skip the hugs and get up to the stage. “The longer that you take sharing hugs, whether consensual—or with Kevin Spacey—the less time we’re going to have.”

Yeah… it’s probably safe to say that O’Brien doesn’t have to worry about Offerman coming for his job next year.

Seated for streaming

Speaking of Conan, the late night host-turned-digital media empire-builder rocked the Dolby with a fake ad for a new way to stream movies—in a magical place known to Nicole Kidman and the rest of us as… a movie theater.

O’Brien called his brilliant invention CinemaStreams, but his working title could have been Not-Netflix. While the streaming giant was the most-nominated studio of the night with 18 nods, its ongoing resistance to embracing a standard theatrical distribution schedule has made it something of a controversial outlier in the industry. The host also teased Netflix in his monologue, noting that it led the competition with “18 price increases.”

But those jokes clearly rolled off the back of Netflix co-head Ted Sarandos. When I caught up with him in the orchestra lobby bar, he expressed happiness with the streamer’s three wins, which included a pair of statues for Emilia Pérez (Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song) and The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Best Documentary Short).

Not for nothing, but I also spied Sarandos animatedly chatting with presenter and future Jurassic World Rebirth star Scarlett Johansson. Perhaps they’re hatching a project that’ll be coming to a CinemaStreams near you in 2026.

Culkin commits

Kieran Culkin wasn’t about to be a real pain following his Best Supporting Actor win. In the orchestra lobby bar, the Succession star took a moment out of his big night to snap a photo with some of the Los Angeles firefighters who appeared onstage during an Oscars tribute to their bravery in combating January’s devastating wildfires.

Not long after, Selena Gomez broke her stride while crossing the lobby and thanked the firefighters for their service, signing autographs and shaking hands.

The firefighter tribute was one of several ways that the Oscars acknowledged the fires, which have further hindered the area’s already-challenged film industry. The ceremony included a charitable component, and O’Brien raised the topic during his monologue, saying: “Even in the face of terrible wildfires and divisive politics, the work, which this is about, the work continues.”

Several Oscar ads also acknowledged the wildfires both directly and indirectly. California-based companies like Hiscox Business Insurance, Charter Spectrum, and Visit California promoted business opportunities in the area through local spots placed by Disney Advertising Local. And a quartet of ads by Prudential shone a spotlight on some of the artisans who make movie magic possible.

“It’s been a challenging beginning of the year for Los Angeles,” Prudential’s chief brand officer, Richard Parkinson, told ADWEEK. “We want to be part of celebrating the perseverance and dedication that defines the film community.”