When "Crash" received an editing Oscar nomination and "Brokeback" didn't, Lionsgate executives thought it might be a bellwether. Their research showed that the last time a film was named best picture without an editing nomination was the 1981 ceremony, when "Ordinary People" won. That indicated that the academy's film editors' branch, another key voting bloc, favored "Crash."

"Crash" also had in its favor a popular director and co-writer — Paul Haggis — who had worked with scores of actors during a long TV career on such shows as "The Facts of Life" and "thirtysomething." Also popular with actors is Cheadle, who as well as starring in "Crash" was also a producer on the film.

"Crash" is likely to have scored points with some actors because it was shot in Los Angeles at a time when runaway film production is a sore point. "Brokeback" was shot in Canada, financed in part by Canadian tax incentives.

"Crash" was also set in Los Angeles, which probably gave it an additional home-field advantage. Seventy-eight percent of the academy's voting members live in California — the vast majority of them in the L.A. area. "Crash" won many outspoken local fans, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

By early January, Lionsgate had spent $2 million on trade ads and other promotions, but more was needed. The movie, which was released in May, was no longer in theaters, so getting the DVDs out was crucial.

In the days leading up to the close of voting on Oscar nominations Jan. 21, Lionsgate opened the spigot to spend $500,000 more. Once "Crash" got its six nods Jan. 31, an additional $1.5 million was earmarked.

"The two most important things about our campaign were getting 'Crash' to be seen by everyone who needed to see it and then reminding them of how 'Crash' made them feel," said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lionsgate Theatrical Films.

The logic was to "win" the city, while counting on voters in the rest of the nation, mainly the New York contingent, to split their votes among all five nominees, which also included "Capote," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Munich" as well as "Brokeback."

Ortenberg said Lionsgate never intentionally ceded other parts of the country. But as a company with limited resources, he said, it had to focus on L.A.

Indeed, because Lions Gate Entertainment, a Canadian company that operates out of Santa Monica, is such a small public company, it had to own up to its additional spending — roughly 3 cents a share — last month in a conference call with Wall Street analysts. Some grilled company executives on the expenses and whether the spending was worth it.

Hours after actor Jack Nicholson opened the envelope and announced that "Crash" had won, that question appeared to have been answered.

Overnight, "Crash" jumped from No. 103 to No. 23 on Amazon.com's top DVD sellers. Early Monday, analyst David W. Miller of Sanders Morris Harris raised his estimate of sales from a reissue of the "Crash" DVD scheduled for April 4 to about 150,000 copies, nearly double his previous estimate.

All told, Lions Gate Entertainment executives have estimated, the Oscar win could be worth as much as $10 million in additional money for "Crash," not only in DVD sales but also in bigger payments when it is shown on TV.

And, analyst Miller said, "that might prove to be conservative."

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Times staff writers Rachel Abramowitz and Robert W. Welkos contributed to this report.