Here’s what’s inside the $200,000 Oscars gift bag

An Academy Award nomination can bring fame, prestige and potential new career opportunities for the filmmakers and performers who receive one.

And while nominees know there’s no guarantee that they’ll walk away from the Oscars with a trophy, they can sleep easy knowing they’ll get a six-figure swag bag whether or not they win.

For the 23rd straight year, Oscar nominees will be receiving the “Everybody Wins” gift bag from LA-based marketing company Distinctive Assets. This year’s bag — which is not affiliated with the Academy Awards — is valued at nearly $220,000, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Now well into his third decade of putting the gift bags together, Distinctive Assets founder Lash Fary says that the task only gets easier each year. Rather than try to outdo himself, Fary only tries to achieve one thing.

“My goal when I’m building this bag is that I go, ‘There’s some cool s–t here that I would love to get if I were a celebrity,'” he tells CNBC Make It. 

This year’s bag, which is filled with more than 60 gifts ranging from cannabis pre rolls to an invitation to a $23,000 stay at a Maldives resort, is being delivered to nominees in luggage from high-end bag brand Nomatic. 

Though the Distinctive Assets Oscars bag comes at the very end of awards season after nominees have been to plenty of other awards shows and parties and received many other gift bags, Fary says his bag is always a hit.

“I don’t think you’re ever too rich or famous to get past that,” Fary says. “Especially when it’s so much fun stuff.”

The 2025 “Everybody Wins” bag is stuffed full of gifts and goodies ranging from pricey hotel stays to deluxe skincare products.

In the aftermath of the destructive Los Angeles fires, this year’s bag also includes a one-year membership to Bright Harbor personalized disaster recovery support, as well as 10 memberships to give to friends and family. There is also $50,000 worth of project management services from LA-based Maison Construction.

“[Maison Construction is] making their gift completely transferable,” Fary says. “The nominees can give it to a friend or family member or neighbor, whoever might need it.” 

As far as taxes go, recipients of the bag will only pay taxes on the physical goods contained in their Nomatic suitcases. Any invitations will only incur a tax penalty if nominees redeem them.

“Of the $200,0000 approximate value, only a few thousand of it would need to be claimed upfront,” Fary says. “The tax value is based on a couple thousand dollars ‘worth of physical items.” 

These are few highlights of the items contained in this year’s bag:

• A $240 cutting board from John Boos featuring a “reversible design, edge-grain construction and generous thickness.”
• A collection of film-inspired merch from Alamo Drafthouse Cinema valued at $400. 
• Luxury pocket squares from members-only fashion house Daniel Ashley co. valued at $1,570.
• A number of cannabis products from brands like Dogwalkers ($194), Beboe ($160), Señorita ($80) and RYTHM ($231). 
• A $5,200 stay at Barcelona’s five-star Cotton House Hotel. 
• Nominees will be offered an in-depth look at their family’s past through AncestryDNA’s VIP Family History Experience. The $25,000 offering will see a genealogist build the nominee’s family tree back several generations and then walk them and their family through the findings.  
• $305 worth of skincare products from Swiss brand INSTYTUTUM. Nominees will receive the brand’s 3-piece best-seller gift set. 
• An invitation to a $3,500 virtual wellness retreat from 3d Wellness Retreats, offering courses “to help you rediscover your true self and find the passion and joy you deserve.”

The high-priced gift bag is given to the nominees in the four acting categories as well as to the directing nominees and host Conan O’Brien. 

Though every nominee is offered a bag — and some have their representatives reach out to Distinctive Assets to make sure they have the correct address for delivery — not everyone accepts. 

“Last year the only person that we ended up not delivering to was Yorgos [Lanthimos] because he was heading out of town,” Fary says. “So we gave his to Greta Gerwig instead, who happily accepted it.” 

Here’s who’s eligible for this year’s bag: 

• Host: Conan O’Brien
• Best Director nominees: Coralie Fargeat, James Mangold, Sean Baker, Jacques Audiard, Brady Corbet
• Best Actor nominees: Ralph Fiennes, Sebastian Stan, Timothée Chalamet, Colman Domingo, Adrien Brody
• Best Actress nominees: Fernanda Torres, Demi Moore, Karla Sofía Gascón, Cynthia Erivo, Mikey Madison
• Best Supporting Actor nominees: Guy Pearce, Yura Borisov, Edward Norton, Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong
• Best Supporting Actress nominees: Zoe Saldaña, Felicity Jones, Monica Barbaro, Ariana grande, Isabella Rossellini

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