How ESPN's 'O.J.: Made in America' became the first ever TV series to win an Oscar

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February 27, 2017 4:26 AM

The path to an Academy Award win for ESPN's "O.J.: Made in America" took advantage of an important Oscar rule.

O.J. Simpson and late wife Nicole Brown Simpson, from "O.J.: Made in America."

Many of you may be wondering how a documentary produced by ESPN and made as a series for TV, "O.J.: Made in America," won an Oscar on Sunday night.

As the docuseries' director Ezra Edelman said during his acceptance speech for best documentary feature, the path to ESPN's first Oscar nomination and win, and the first ever Oscar win for a TV series, was "untraditional."

"First of all, this is incredible," Edelman said. "I want to thank the Academy for acknowledging this untraditional film. I want to thank ESPN for allowing us the canvas and the time to tell this story. This is the only way it could be told."

So how does a TV series end up winning an Oscar?

The series had to fulfill the Academy's requirement that submissions for nominations have a theatrical run. In this case, ESPN combined the five 90-minute episodes for an all-day experience that debuted in movie theaters in New York City and Los Angeles on May 20 for about two weeks, ahead of its June 11 TV premiere on ABC.

The decision was made after a successful premiere during last year's Sundance Film Festival.

Jason Guerrasio contributed to this article.

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