Netflix CEO: Movie Theaters Are 'Strangling the Movie Business'' (businessinsider.com)

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings thinks the state of film is a "real tragedy" and that movie theaters are "strangling the movie business," he said at The New Yorker's Tech Fest on Friday. From a Business Insider report:On Friday, Hastings came down hard on these theater owners, saying there had been no innovation in the movie theater business in recent years, even as TV has been shaped by the rise of cable and internet networks. "Money" and "innovation" has flooded to the TV industry, Hastings said. Not so with film. The movie theater business has seen flatline revenue, Hastings said. Part of the problem is that small movies, such as many Netflix has snagged from places like Sundance, would be better distributed both at home and in theaters. That's a convenient position for Netflix to take, but Hastings said the movie studios feel the same way. Each movie studio would like to "break the oligopoly" of the theaters, but "they don't know how," he continued. If they collude to face the theaters, it's anti-trust, but if they are the ones to take the first step, their films will get killed. That means they just go along with the status quo.

Comments

I guess all you guys have a sign that says:

[mykepredko]

KIDS: STAY OFF THE LAWN!

Re:Movie theaters

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> There are 18+ movie theaters

Paul Ruebens, is that you?

Re:Movie theaters

[DickBreath]

But screaming kids, people getting up and squeezing out through the row of seats, and then back again later, and cell phones, and people talking, and telling their life story, along with narrating the film, people kicking the back of your seat, throwing popcorn . . .

It's all part of the movie magic! The theater experience. You wouldn't want to get less than you paid for.

And let's not forget being treated like a criminal before admission into the dignity of the theater experience. And 45 minutes of ads.