Believe it or not, I’ve been tracking the Oscars on this website for the entire time my daughter has grown into a 16 year-old. She was just a baby when I started the website in 1999. She was born in May of 1998. I needed a reason to stay home with her, and hoped I could start some kind of online website during the wild wild west that the internet was back then. I didn’t know what it would do or the industry that would eventually rise up around it but something told me it would be interesting to people, watching the Oscar race. Back then, there were so many movies to choose from. It really was about finding the best of them. Movies were cultural events that didn’t exclude whole populations of ticket buyers. The Oscars were held long after the year concluded, to measure a film’s success not just with critics but with the public. No one even thought about the Oscars until late December, early January. Now, January starts the Oscar race for the following year and the public has very little to do with it.
So much has changed since 1999 that it’s become harder to write about the Oscar race. The community here changes every year, depending on what movies or actors are in the race, or how many people I’ve pissed off in a given year. I just wanted to thank you who’ve been coming here since I began this site and how much I value the private emails you send me (even if I never write back, I do read them) and the words of encouragement over the years. I also have to give a shout out to my pal Ryan for always having my back, even if it means swatting away puny giants on message boards and on Twitter. He manages a pretty heated comment section.
Also need to give a shout out to Craig Kennedy, who has really beefed up the TV section, with the help of several writers. Dora has helped us out with our FYC gallery once again this year and we so appreciate it. Jazz Tangcay is AwardsDaily’s newest writer and she’s been handling interviews like a pro. Rob Y, who does an enormous amount of work each year on the AwardsDaily simulated Oscar ballot, which will launch again this week. There are too many readers and commenters here who participate is such illuminating ways every day but we thank you too.
My dad is battling cancer, you might have heard about it on Twitter, and that’s made me ever conscious of time passing too quickly. I don’t know how much longer AwardsDaily will continue. I’m sure many would like it to end sooner rather than later. We hope there are many who want to see it evolve, adapt and endure. I’m proud of the site I’ve built, and namely that I’ve been able to support my daughter and hopefully help her get through college. Honestly, I had no idea this would have been my fate when I started this whole thing. But hey, life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans, as John Lennon would say.
Let’s see what 2015 brings. I hope it brings many good things.
![2025 Oscars: Can a Late-Breaker Still Win Best Picture? [POLL]](https://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/gladiator-350x250.jpg)
Sweet. …only Gone Girl should have been in 1,500 point!!
I too have been around since the beginning and like snowbirds from the Midwest who spend time in their summer digs half the year, this site has been a regular part of my non-work life every year come September. Thank you for being around in so many ways:
Thank you for helping me be such a know-it-all at my annual Oscar party.
Thank you for keeping me updated through Oscar season on who’s winning what, the favorites and the forgottens.
Thank you for giving me an active, “spirited” community that weighs in on the race, on their favorites, and presents opinions about film from all over the world. I lurk more than contribute; daunted often by the knowledge and intelligence of the readerdom at AD.
Thank you Sasha for being another voice for the presence (or lack thereof) of women in film. I’m nearly 60 now and have been an avid filmwatcher most of those years. Sadly I feel conditioned from being offered stories through those decades presented from the primarily dominant male (i.e., white, heterosexual) viewpoint. I appreciate art and perspective about anyone’s story but know that sometimes I need a reminder about who else needs to be represented. Articulate, forceful voices like your’s and Ryan’s and commenters are like strong breaths of fresh air. I’d like to say that things have changed for the better with regard to diversity in film, but as the recent Best Actor discussion reveals, this isn’t the case.
Thank you for providing me with community to deal with the painful loss of artists in cinema who mean so much to me, when my real world community doesn’t understand (“she’s only an actress; ‘he’s only a cinematographer’).
Thank you for the occasional mentions of your father or daughter and integrating who else you are and what is important to you in your writing. As a reader, that represents me too.
Long may Awards Daily continue (or Oscar Watch or whatever other title you need to use for it). Where else would I go in September?
As another longtime follower I want to say a huge thank you for the site, from OscarWatch to now. It’s been a regular hangout, information source, outlet for a competitive streak, and a lot of fun over the years. Sasha, I hope this isn’t an indication that you’re finishing with AwardsDaily, but as Bob Burns says, you will always be a writer whatever you do. No travel pieces have ever moved me like your humane and eloquent write-ups of Cannes, and if such writing gives you pleasure when the Oscar race has lost its luster let it be known that you have an incredible gift in this field. Just tell us where we need to go/ what books to buy and we’ll be there.
In the meantime our thoughts and prayers are with you and your father. I wish you and the whole AD team a happy 2015.
Sasha, not one day goes by that I do not visit this site. It is that essential to my cyber life! I do not comment a lot (I don’t seem to have the thoughts and words a to compete with you guys) But I always read and absorb. I am continually inspired by your passion and intelligence…you are fierce. Please don’t ever stop what you are doing because nobody does it better than you. But I know family always comes first and like any good family we will be there for you when you need us….as you have always been here for us. Look after yourself Sasha and your daughter and you father and the universe will look after you. With much love, appreciation and eternal gratitude.
Thank you as well, AwardsDaily.
I’ve been reading AD since 2007/2008 or so but become somewhat active in its comments section approximately a few years back if I’m not mistaken. I always admired Sasha’s passion for and her championing the films she loved even though sometimes it seemed to me to have gotten out of hand and blown out of proportion when both AD and certain readers’ thoughts began colliding so that the bêtes noires from both sides came up [This Fareast Asian guy just kept sitting up in his room with his chips and loud music, HLN and Nancy Grace on TV, etc., and observing].
A long story short, I’ve kept coming back for more and more [sorry for sounding like a background artist in an R-rated flick] because of Sasha. No offense to any other integral portions to what helps make AD great; it mainly won’t be the same without her (Sasha).
“I don’t know how much longer AwardsDaily will continue. I’m sure many would like it to end sooner rather than later.”
I’m hoping you will continue doing this #if you still feel and believe that it remains your passion. It’s your choice and we all of us [well, most of us in the free world no matter where we are, I mean] are free to choose.
I think AD format most likely suits you best because it gives you freedom as a site owner and editor (as opposed to representing a celebrated editorial team on its payroll or even as a guest writer).
But personally, I would keep coming back for more and more as long as Sasha is still around.
All the best to your family.
Sasha, Ryan, Craig, Clarence, Joey, Meg, Jazz, and Whomever I Forget,
Currently at my regular pays-the-rent job, so will have to make this brief. If I possibly can. I remember following Oscarwatch way back when I lived in Lincoln {UK not Nebraska} – and that was 1998 – 2002 – so I have been around for at least most of the 16 years. It’s a long time that. When I look back over those years and what I have done in my life, well, that’s for another time. Or not. Basically I don’t think there has been another website that I have kept coming back to in that time. It doesn’t matter, Sasha, that your views are not always shared with me or others. What fun would it be if we all were the same? I generally have enjoyed the writing and what the site offers for a movie maniac like myself. I mean, I am still here aren’t I. Although I hardly ever make comments, I assure you, I am always around. Like a bad smell.
See you in another 16 years?
Robin
Thanks for all your wonderful writing. Take care of yourself, Sasha. If that means the end of Awards Daily, so be it. Take care of yourself.
Sasha & Awards Daily family,
Best wishes for the New Year. I hope your father’s health will improve, Sasha.
I have been an avid reader on this site since 2000. It has been an amazing journey seeing how the website has continued to develop from Oscarwatch days. I have been much inspired by thoughtful articles that have been presented on this site even though I seldom post comments.
Best of luck in continuing the site.
To Sasha, Ryan and Craig,
Thank you all so much for this website. I have been an avid follower since early 2002. It’s thoughtful, insightful and most importantly, encourages debate about the films that we all love (and hate).
Every good wish for 2015.
Long live AwardsDaily! I always read with pleasure what you write. Even when I don’t agree. Just let me make a wish: I wish you could enjoy a little more international cinema. Lots of gems to discover in the world. Every year.
Been reading this site from Italy since the beginning. Now I do not know how I could do without.
I really hope Award’s Daily will still be with us for many, many years to come.
My best wishes for 2015, Sasha.
Been a reader for about 12 years now. I moved from Chicago to Philly when I was in high school and this was one of the first sites I went to for movie lovers, so I attribute this site to helping me cope with the move. When the name went from Oscar Watch to Awards Daily, well, I thought life was ending! I only visit maybe 7 sites daily and this is the only one I check more than twice a day. It’s funny, I have friends who play World of Warcraft and would say how they’ve made many online friends, which I couldn’t believe since I don’t game online. But over time I realized that exactly what I’ve been doing coming here and getting into discussions. So thank you, Sasha and the entire team for continuing an amazing site that I hope continues in the future. Your dad is in my thoughts. Let’s make 2015 an amazing year full of thoughtful discussions and hilariously heated arguments!
Sasha,
I’ve been following from the beginning and waking up each day and checking in with awardsdaily has been part of my routine for as long as I have been an adult. I remember the old days of dial-up and then having to wait for months to see the good films in my local cinemas. I sometimes even wrote to them to show a film!
Best wishes for 2015 from Brisbane, Australia!
Dear Sasha and Ryan, congrats to you and everyone who helps you make AD tbe best Awards Site and one of the best film sites around period.
I’ve been following you form the very beginning, when you were Oscar Watch (back then I also read the site “And the Oscar Goes To”, but they disappeared from the map).
It’s been a treat watching you grow from a “mere” pundit to a film critic, and a great one, for that matter.
I don’t comment much, but I’ve read almost every post and every comment ever written here.
I have a 15 y old daughter myself and she also loves the movies and the site. She’s a second generation AD reader! How cool is that?
I wish you all the best.
Love, Leo C.
Congrats on the site and your persistence.
What’s BOYMAN? A new Marvel superhero movie or the alternate title for Penny Marshall’s BIG?
Popping in to wish a feliz ano novo to all here, especially Sasha and Ryan.
And to send my very best wishes to Sasha and her father. Your devotion to your family is very similar to my own and the way you talk about your daughter reminds me of my mum – who raised me and my 2 brothers so so well through many moments of adversity.
Congratulations on your achievements and here’s to many more years here!
Sasha, I actually came across your site on the Bloomberg terminal, which was in 2001, I have been a loyal reader since. I love the ‘Oscars’ and I know that some years my favorites win (Boys Don’t Cry/Return of the King/Slumdog Millionaire) and some don’t, and it still pains me to mention them.
I go to see these movies mostly on my own, just returned from ‘Wild’, as I want to have a good perspective on what movies are ‘Oscar’ worthy, but no matter what, whether my favorites win or lose, I will watch each year and read your website.
Love your site.
I hope your Dad is doing okay, I am sure it is not the easiest thing.
Go raibh mile mhaith gat (thank you in Gaelic)
Caroline
“Rob Y, who does an enormous amount of work each year on the AwardsDaily simulated Oscar ballot, which will launch again this week.”
special mention to Rob, who this very minute is wondering when I will have the Adapted/Original screenplays sorted into the right lists. (I’ll have it overnight tonight!)
I love the site you’ve created Sasha and have followed from Oscarwatch time onward. You and Ryan offer a perspective much appreciated. Cheers to you both. I hope your new years are kind and prosperous.
This is my favorite website and since I’ve been reading since the oscar watch days I can’t imagine it ever ending. I love being a part of such a wonderful movie/ award community.
Sasha I’m sending you good wishes for your dads recovery, my mom has had cancer twice and thank goodness she’s still here.
And lastly happy new year to everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful time last night. My famiy’s tradition here in Michigan is to have fondue and champagne on New Years eve, and boy oh boy it was fabulous last night.
I can’t imagine a world without Awards Daily! Please, never ever stop. I’ve loved every post since the beginning!!!
Sasha, happy new year and many thanks!
I don’t always agree with you (dang, I don’t even *often* agree with you), but how could I begrudge someone with your passion? That’s what drives you and the team here, and that’s what drives me to come here (also since the days of OscarWatch).
You will keep writing and I’ll keep coming (even if only for me to throw my hands to the air in despair at what you wrote). Do we have a deal?
Sasha and Co. I love this site. I’ve been coming here since 2010, and I haven’t skipped a day since. I thank you all for making this such a wonderful place to go to discuss film and the Oscar race. It really is like a home away from home for me, and I for one would not want it to go away. Keep up the good work everyone, and I hope you all have a happy and healthy 2015.
Happy New Year!
Sasha, I wish your father the best. My Dad is going through cancer treatment as well, and I know how difficult it can be. Even though this is one of my favorite websites for coverage of the Oscar race, if you feel the need to shut it down, I can fully understand where you’re coming from.
You, Ryan, and Craig have become an indelible part of how I watch movies and TV. Hopefully the site can keep going for as long as you all wish.
Thank you Sasha and Ryan for all that you do! I’ve been coming to this site since 2001 and it would be impossible to imagine the Oscar race with out it. Happy New Year!
Dear Sasha and members of AD organization:
I sincerely hope that AD’s end is something to come in a long, long time from now. To be honest: my sentiment is that it should never ends.
I’m proud to say that, right from Brazil, I’m following this site since 2001, when I was hoping high that Moulin Rouge could upset A Beautiful Mind. Since then, I’ve been having the pleasure and lucky to learn about movies, about art, about film in general, with Sasha, Ryan and all this beautiful family AD has been creating throught this years. The greatestes learning was love. Love for movies that move our souls and build meaning to our lives.
In fact, to watch and observe the all-Oscar race is a way to look for the passion in films, to find the art that move us and made us believe – more and more – in the beauty of the people, in the hope of a better world.
You see, I love the movies. I started following AD in 2001 as a student in the break of begging college. Five years later, I was graduated in Nutrition. Today, I’m a college teacher in the university I was graduated, and, today, I’m teaching Publi Health.
And I’m continuing to love movies. And AD is the safe spot to learn more and more about the movies. And really feed my passion.
And feed it with friends – the AD family.
Please, do never stop!
Sasha and friends, if you need any help, I’m sure we have many, many fans and supportes like me, that will have the pleasure and joy to help this dream keep true.
And Sasha, may God give you and your family force, determination, love and faith to fight this battle. And that the love for movies can transform itself – more and more – into the family love, the friendship love. It’s this love that will give you all faith and streinght to give your father light, tender and care.
A great big fat hug!!
Thank you for (in my case) this 14 years of Oscar-watching!
Pedro
Thank you Sasha, Ryan and Craig. I think I’ve been here since around the beginning too, reading your take on the Oscars every year. You guys always bring a new voice to the race and make it more fascinating to watch than it sometimes is. Thanks so much. Hope all works out for your dad.
A big thanks to Sasha, Ryan, Craig and the AD staff over the years. This is a great place to come to to meet like-minded souls, share thoughts and sometimes let off some steam. Kind of like a virtual CHEERS bar where you recognize the staff and the regulars.
My heart goes out to you, Sasha, at this difficult time that we all end up facing sooner or later. When I went through a similar period last year, you and Ryan were most kind offline. Know that all of our thoughts are with you.
I hope AD continues to evolve as a refuge for those of us who appreciate both the storytellers and the variety of people who find them important. All who come here on a regular basis share the understanding that movies are one of the threads by which we define our own thoughts and lives. They get us through a lot and provide great joy (and frustration).
Sasha and the AD staff manage to provide an intelligent place for us to express that, so I hope you are around for as long as you want to be.
Happy New Year, everybody.
Wherever you go or no matter what you do, I know you will be a writer and I look forward to reading your work.
Sasha, I’ve been reading since early OscarWatch days and check in daily…even if only to say to myself, ‘nothing new today’. I’m not a commenter usually but am grateful to you for everything you do. Pre-internet meant scrapbooks of FYC ads, articles and reviews many weeks after the fact and movies that sometimes never made it down here I’d find much later on VHS. Thank you too.
Joey (Sydney, Australia)
So sorry to hear about your father, Sasha.
Thank you SO SO SO much for this website. I think its the greatest on the internet. Even when I dont agree with every word being written, I am fascinated by the opinions, articles, and output.
Thanks again and Happy New Year to Sasha, Ryan, the entire Awardsdaily crew and the fellow readers/commenters!! Cant wait to read more about this 2014 race and the years to come! 🙂
Thank you for your site and congratulations on the consistency and quality of your coverage. Yours is the only site I follow. I’ve never thought of switching. Your humor and frankness keep the site interesting and fun to read.
I’ve been with you since OscarWatch and will continue to be with you. This site makes me feel like home, a whole family out there who come together to share their views on the Oscar race. Some views I may not agree with, but that’s like with any family.
By the way, I saw Into the Woods last night, and I loved it. Now I have no doubt that Meryl deserves a nomination for best supporting actress. The audience gave it a gleeful applause.
Likewise.
Will keep visiting here.
I used to be a hater, yes. Used to post personally offensive stuff here when you spoke ill of Spielberg, but not anymore. Time to apologize both to you and Ryan.
Opinions will never be the same between two people. That’s a fact. This site is relevant because it’s not just about awards buzz, but mainly about FILM. Films are taken seriously here, as is the awards season, whose ugliness is not glossed over.
Happy New Year, Sasha! Happy New Year to all of you! (From, Brazil)
I’ve been coming here, more as a reader, since 2012. “Lincoln” brought me here… Thank you for keeping Awards Daily “open” for so many years. I’m really sorry to hear about your father’s battle with cancer. I wish all the best for you and your family during this time.
Thank you Sacha for all the good work, keep it up ! I’ve been following your site since years even thought i didn’t write much comments, wish you all the best for 2015 to you and your loved ones.
PS Im from Cannes France, and the picture of your profil looks like it was taking from la croisette i can be wrong…you look lovely.
Sasha, as I began reading this post I thought, oh no, she’s leaving! Despite the many times I’ve disagreed with you or been annoyed, I’ve kept coming back. I know of no other film/awards blogger who gets to the heart of what interests me so much about film and the silly/fantastic business of awards. I hope you keep at it for years to come. My best to you and your father.
Happy New Year Sasha & Ryan. I have loved your work for years now. Peace.
Happy New Year Sasha. Please don’t go anywhere! I’ve been an Oscar fanatic since I was a teen in the mid-sixties. Yours is the one site I’ve turned to every day for the past five years to keep up with everything. I would be lost without you! And I love reading your blogs and reviews. Keep it up.
Dear Sasha,
I’ve been here pretty much from the beginning. Your site opened up a whole new world to me. I appreciate your passion and thoughtfulness on all Oscarwatching subject matter. I haven’t always agreed with you, but I have always loved you like a dear friend. Thank you for being a part of my life, and all the best with your father.
Your friend,
David.
I don’t even remember when I got here. I escaped from gold derby and had to find somewhere else to go. 🙂
Well, I hope everyone gets better. 2014 sucked as far as I’m concerned. Onward and upward!
I have been coming here for years and love this site very much. I appreciate the hard work that everyone puts into it and admire the fact that this site is always willing to raise important issues that most Oscar sites couldn’t give two shits about. I will come to this site as long as it exists and continues to have that spirit.
Good luck with your father’s battle, Sasha. I hope he recovers and gets back to playing his Jazz concerts.
Correction: I AM coming back here BECAUSE you really piss me off on a daily basis, or dare-I-say [lame joke alert] on an AwardsDaily basis! And I wouldn’t want it any other way!
Heartfelt prayers and blessings for the whole Stone family over at least three generations! May you all have the opportunity to live happy, do what you like most, and piss off as many a**holes as possible for many years to come!
https://twitter.com/filmystic/status/550781077225476096/photo/1
Like Alex above, I’ve also only been following for the past six years and I’m 20. I rarely comment and when I do, I don’t make a lot of sense. But it’s been amazing, Sasha, to read all of your pieces and to all the people who comment on this site, I thank them for their input, too. This place has become a community for me where my inner awards geek can spend time. I hope the site continues as long as the Oscars.
Best wishes and love to you Sasha and everyone who keeps coming back to this site.
Happy New Year everyone!
Although I am a new reader to the website, only having found out about it in October or so, I appreciate everything that you write about Sasha. There is no other awards season site that just writes what needs to be written. I love how you go beyond stating the obvious facts and stats, but actually offering your own opinion, and by that trying to turn the season into a lively discussion instead of a tedious wait for the same to happen every year. Reading AwardsDaily has truly made this season much more interesting than it would definitely be (still is kind of boring, but could have been worse).
I’ve only been following for six years, but given that I’m 21 that’s a pretty big percentage of my life, I mean most of high school and all through college … and you’ve managed to impact it in a lot of ways, how I see movies, yeah, but how I think about a lot of other things in life more generally … even when (maybe especially when) I disagree with you, which is more than half the time, but it keeps me coming back … you impact more people than you could ever know, both you and Ryan! Best wishes for you and your father and your daughter, here’s to 2015!
Thanks for letting me publish ten articles of insufferable narcissistic nonsense in October while I was in London indulging my pompous sense of self-importance and squandering my pitiful fortune.
Thanks for not deleting my numerous bilious comments, and for defending me when the haters hated me even more than I hated them.
Thanks for the constant stream of quality articles, of thinkpieces, reviews, interviews, trailers, awards coverage and pictures of Scarlett Johansson’s cunt.
But most of all, THANKS FOR NOTHING, BITCHES!!
Dear Sasha; I am sad to read of your father’s battles. Having experienced cancer and its fallout; it is not to be underestimated how devastating this is for all involved. I hope he and you all prevail through the tough times.
Awards Daily and Oscar watch have been a huge part of continuing my fascination with the strangely addictive organisation that is The Academy. But your site has been about much much much more. It is about passion and being impassioned enough to not only write about the merry go round of prize giving; but the far more indelible and contentious realm of experience that is storytelling; movie making and film appreciation. It is never just about the prize. It is the texture that cinema engenders and that you and Ryan and your contributors identify and eloquently dissect and proffer for us readers to absorb. It is this discourse which in my humble opinion; more enduring and far reaching than just an analysis of who’s hot and who’s not (awards wise).
Ryan, your indefatigable spirit and ability to linguistically wrangle the downright difficult and sometimes abusive comments has taught me much in the way of navigating reason and lateral thinking to formulate a considered response; and not just here, but elsewhere in my life. I also get a lot of smiles from reading the witty banter and fencing that takes place here.
While i know all too well, that nothing lasts forever; there are multitudes of people willing this website and its creators onwards and upwards. It DOES make a difference. It IS part of the solution. not part of the problem. Cheers!
I agree with the wishes, the hopes and the thanks.
And I’m looking forward to a lot of podcasts…
* AwardsDaily (sorry, still half asleep)
“We hope there are many who want to see it evolve, adapt and endure. “
I added that line. Some days that’s all do: interfere.
Thank you Sasha, Ryan, and Craig! 2014 was another terrific year. Thanks to all the commentors who make coming here so very interesting.
Thanks to you guys here who followed me on Twitter as well. It’s pretty cool to be in such good company here and on Twitter.
BTW, Happy New Year’s everybody!! 🙂
Happy New Year, Sasha!!!!
Looking forward to daily visits to your site for many years to come. Thanks for making it happen.
Happy New Year Sasha,
Thank you once again for a year of passionate commentary and for continuing to make Awardswatch my number one go to site for everything Oscar related. I’ve followed your site since the original Oscarwatch days and whilst my contribution over the years (in comments etc) has been very limited, that says more about me than the site itself. I remember wondering, back in 1999 or 2000, whether there were any sites where people who loved movies and loved the Oscars could go and get more insight, share their thoughts or read others thoughts, opinions and speculation on the Oscars race. I found what I was looking for in Oscarwatch and subsequently in Awardswatch and just wanted to thank you for creating your site and providing me the opportunity to be a part of a community that shares the same passion I do.
I look forward to sharing the rest of this current Oscar season as well as future seasons with Awardswatch and wish you and your family a happy, healthy and properous 2015.
Steve ( Sydney, Australia)
Just wanted to say Thank You Sasha! I love this site and I hope it is around for a long time to come. I’m sending prayers along for you and your family in the New Year.
Like.
Thank you Sasha! Been reading here since the beginning. Glad you never became so sick of us that you retired. And if you do leave in a couple of years, there will be a Roger Ebert-like hole in Oscar-world.
Happy 2015, Sasha, and all my best wishes for your father, and your family. I also look back and remember how this site have affected – and even changed – many lives including mine. I’m sure Nathaniel Rogers and Kris Tapley or Josh Timmerman will agree on this. Probably the year we all became aware that this was unstoppable was 2003’s race, with the Return of the King’s race… I do remember the explosion in the forums and the hard work of moderators to keep some kind of control while a tsunami of fans – specially LotR’s – flooded into the forums. But it certainly has paid off, in my opinion.
Thank you for all these years, and in advance, for the years to come.
P.S.: see “Stranger by the Lake”. A film doesn’t get “Cahier’s du Cinema” #1 of 2013, for no good reason. 😉