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Netflix Pulls Out of Cannes Following Rule Change (variety.com)
Netflix and Cannes are breaking up, at least for now. On Wednesday, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos said that the streaming platform won't be sending any films to the prestigious French festival, formally severing the strained relationship between the two power players. The decision was a long time coming, after Cannes established a rule that forbade films without a theatrical distribution plan from its competition. From, a report: In an exclusive interview with Variety, Netflix's chief content officer says that the festival sent a clear message with a new rule that bans any films without theatrical distribution in France from playing in competition. Netflix could screen some of its upcoming movies out of competition, but Sarandos says that doesn't make sense for the streaming service. "We want our films to be on fair ground with every other filmmaker," Sarandos says. "There's a risk in us going in this way and having our films and filmmakers treated disrespectfully at the festival. They've set the tone. I don't think it would be good for us to be there."
Netflix made a big splash at the prestigious film festival last year with two movies that showed in competition: Bong Joon-ho's "Okja" and Noah Baumbach's "The Meyerowitz Stories." But after the 2017 announcement, French theaters owners and unions protested the inclusion of these films to Thierry Fremaux, the artistic director of Cannes. Netflix was amenable to having their movies play on big screens in France, but a law in the country requires movies to not appear in home platforms for 36 months after their theatrical release.
Netflix made a big splash at the prestigious film festival last year with two movies that showed in competition: Bong Joon-ho's "Okja" and Noah Baumbach's "The Meyerowitz Stories." But after the 2017 announcement, French theaters owners and unions protested the inclusion of these films to Thierry Fremaux, the artistic director of Cannes. Netflix was amenable to having their movies play on big screens in France, but a law in the country requires movies to not appear in home platforms for 36 months after their theatrical release.
Cannes established a rule that forbade films without a theatrical distribution plan from its competition
So Netflix announces that it has pulled out of a competition that it can't enter.
LOL. WTF.
No they weren't allowed to compete, they could still screen thier movies there. They have decided to not even do that.
If I understand correctly (I do not live in France), the law prohibits video-on-demand releases for 4 months after the theatrical release, and prohibits "streaming" video-on-demand releases for 36 months. My guess here is that streaming is not used as a technical term, but rather as a way of distinguishing between individually paid purchases/rentals (a la iTunes, Google Play, etc) and subscription-based services (a la Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc). So no -- they don't have to wait 36 months to get The Last Jedi on blu-ray or even on iTunes, but they will definitely have to wait to get it on Netflix.
No, they'd have to release the movies involved in French theatres (okay), but then (according to the law) wait 3 years before offering it to their French subscribers? Obviously not happening.
Or they could show the movies at Cannes, but not have 'em compete. Why not compete alongside the other movies shown there? Not fair (at least in Netflix' opinion, and I would agree).
Remaining option: pull out all together. Which seems quite a reasonable choice given the above.
ts not just Cannes, the Oscars also has rules requiring a theatrical release.
Unlike the Cannes festival, which requires a release in France, the Academy Awards require a release in Los Angeles in the USA. Unlike France, the USA lacks national regulation of motion picture release windows. This means after a movie completes its 7-day run in LA, it can go straight to Netflix with no mandatory 36-month waiting period.
They're not in the film business anymore than Hallmark is.
There's a huge difference between creating films for the big screen and just pumping out content for your own TV station.
If you want to be a film company then release to theatres.
"Film : a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a cinema or on television."
They are most definitely in the film business, what they are not is in the theatre business. really they should rename the festival to the Cannes Theatre release film festival.
More than a few years. Even the highest estimates only place the Muslim population of France at about 15% by 2050.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC