Hollywood awards season means big business for Ottawa’s ByTowne and Mayfair theatres

Matthew Slevin

February 4, 2025

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Award shows are some of the most elegant and exciting times of the year in Hollywood. Movie stars stride down red carpets in lavish outfits, glowing under the hot sun, surrounded by palm trees and flashing cameras. Awards season in Ottawa is not quite as glamorous – there are no red carpets, palm trees, or movie stars, and temperatures are well below freezing. But for two local movie theatres, a devoted following of Oscar-lovers makes it their busiest time of year. The time from the announcements of nominations to the night of the Oscars – usually from late December to early March – is what staff at the ByTowne Cinema call “the busy season.” The ByTowne and fellow independent cinema the Mayfair Theatre have fostered their own awards season culture in Ottawa with screenings and Oscar-night viewing parties that consistently fill the house and reach beyond their year-round demographic. “Traditionally, summer is seen as blockbuster season, but that’s more for the multiplexes,” said Eric Lavigne, marketing manager at the ByTowne. “For us, it’s really the arthouse and the awards movies.” In the months surrounding Oscar night, which this year is March 2, the ByTowne and the Mayfair screen most of the films that are nominated for the highest award, best picture. Even though these films already played when they were first released, they consistently bring back an equivalent or even larger audience – a feat for films that have been out for several months. According to Lavigne, the buzz surrounding the Oscars affords the nominated films publicity and word of mouth. This guarantees an audience even for films that would not normally have broad appeal, including the ByTowne’s back-to-back screenings of all the nominated short films, which always draws a crowd. “There's people who will go to a movie that, if it got zero nominations, they wouldn't come to,” explained Josh Stafford, co-owner of the Mayfair. “This is really kind of the whole reason for awards shows: to publicize the industry.” Awards season also changes the usual audience trends. Lavigne explained that while matinee crowds usually skew to older theatregoers, staff will see more young people at these times catching the nominated films. “I think people are trying to prioritize seeing them, more than anything.” The main event of awards season in Ottawa is, of course, Oscar night. Both the ByTowne and the Mayfair have made a tradition of screening a live stream of the Oscars broadcast. This will be the ByTowne’s fourth Oscar night, while the Mayfair has been hosting the events for more than 10 years. Both theatres have found it to be a consistent smash hit. “We’ve had years where we’ve had to turn people away at the door,” Stafford said. “If it’s not sold out it’s darn near sold out, every single year.” The energy at these nights is more like a party than an ordinary film screening. People clap, cheer, boo and call out to the screen, a host throws out movie trivia questions during commercial breaks, and many people dress up for the occasion. The commercial breaks also mean that people return to the concessions stand more frequently. Both theatres have seized the opportunity to loop in some charities and local businesses on these nights – the ByTowne accepts donations to Cystic Fibrosis Canada, and the Mayfair hosts local restaurants and breweries for the night. “It's always nice to be able to do something with a couple of other cool local businesses,” Stafford said. “There have been times where they've essentially sold out of cans of beer and run out of food by the end of the night.” These viewing parties might lack the glitz and glamour of the actual ceremony, but Lavigne has found that watching with a crowd creates a community atmosphere. “The most memorable thing is when there’s a surprise or when a fan favourite wins, and people just lose their minds,” he said, citing the example of Ke Huy Quan’s win for best supporting actor in Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2023. “When he won, the place erupted,” Lavigne recalled. Like the screenings of nominated films, Oscar night has a wide reach – Stafford has observed that about two-thirds of the Mayfair’s Oscar night crowd are not regular moviegoers. The reason, he suggests, is the transformation of the telecast into a live event. “We always say that, at the Mayfair, it's an experience you can't get at home,” Stafford said. “Watching it with four people at home isn’t the same as watching it with 300 people on a big screen.”