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Apple Finally Signs A Big Deal With a Hollywood Movie Studio (washingtonpost.com)
"And the winner of the 2021 Academy Award for best picture is .â.â. Apple?" jokes the Washington Post, noting that Apple has just signed a new multi-year movie deal with film production company A24, "and while that seems like a comparatively minor announcement, it could change the game in some significant ways."
It's sneakily consequential. A24, if you're not familiar, is the boutique New York outfit that has been responsible for a slew of hipster-approved, Academy Award-recognized films including "Lady Bird," "Moonlight" and "Room." Since its founding six years ago by a trio that includes the former partner of late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, it has located commercial success and downtown cool. Its movies are handmade hipster-fests that also often manage to please audiences: In addition to its big three, they include "Hereditary," "Eighth Grade," "A Ghost Story" and "Ex Machina". Welcome to the party, Tim Cook....
For Apple, cachet is everything. And it needs that now. A company that has prided itself on cool has reason to be worried about sustaining that on the entertainment side, with Netflix swiping its video lunch and Spotify some of its music swagger.
That with major competitors like Amazon already producing its own films, Apple, "had to do something..." They add the Apple's announcement "contained about as many details as the iPhone 7 has headphone jacks."
But "Even without those specifics, the significance was clear. Apple is installing itself as a producer of some of the most-acclaimed films around, all without needing to take a single meeting or read one script off the slush pile first...."
For Apple, cachet is everything. And it needs that now. A company that has prided itself on cool has reason to be worried about sustaining that on the entertainment side, with Netflix swiping its video lunch and Spotify some of its music swagger.
That with major competitors like Amazon already producing its own films, Apple, "had to do something..." They add the Apple's announcement "contained about as many details as the iPhone 7 has headphone jacks."
But "Even without those specifics, the significance was clear. Apple is installing itself as a producer of some of the most-acclaimed films around, all without needing to take a single meeting or read one script off the slush pile first...."
I mean, with damned near every computer in every movie I've seen over the last 10 - 15 years having an apple logo on it, you mean that "just happened" and wasn't the result of some big product placement contract?
Just because the critics love a movie, doesn't mean anyone want's to see it.
For the most part Academy Award winning films are something I avoid.
If I want hard-hitting depressing reality, I'll go hang out at the bus terminal.
Firs two thoughts:
a) That "finally" in the title...is that supposed to infer somebody was *waiting* for this? I can't imagine who.
b) Product placement's about to get even worse.
I dont see apple being creative enough to produce movies. It will be boring since it cannot offend, push boundaries or stir emotions.
All links try to go to the following site with a bunch of personal info encoded: america.geignskkdkege.top/...
...then, ipso facto, they're not a "Hollywood studio," are they?
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
Have gnu, will travel.
I hope A24 maintains creative control. I recall reading that Apple wanted "family-friendly" television shows on their new streaming service.
Amazon is only a competitor in terms of video because Apple has decided to enter the video space. They otherwise were not much of a competitor at all (except via Alexa).
But really calling this any kind of new or turning point seems nuts, with both Netflix and Amazon producing high quality movies now with major starts regularly.
Apple does not need "cachet" to succeed in video, they need CONTENT PEOPLE WANT TO WATCH. That is it. It is the secret to Netflix's success, and the reason why Amazon has had a harder time enticing video customers.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If they distribute their movies via Apple gadgets only, I won't have any way of seeing them. I certainly wouldn't buy some Apple gadgets and give them my identity just to watch a movie, no matter how good it is. Same with Amazon. No matter what they put out, I'm not watching. Their loss.
I don't respond to AC's.
it's a major part of why folks pay so much for their hardware. You can't just buy product placement. That doesn't work unless you're selling a commodity (e.g. like how the cigarette makers put smokes in movies but generally didn't focus on a specific brands).
Not sure if this'll work for them. It's hard to manufacture cool and when it fails it fails spectacularly. But that's what they're doing if anyone's wondering.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
That with major competitors like Amazon already producing its own films, Apple, "had to do something..."
No they really fucking didn't. This stupid me-tooism in tech is a cancer. I wish companies would stop adopting every shitty idea from their competitors and remember what they hell they are doing in the first place. I mean these guys are run by MBAs right? Did they fail their course?
But you won't be able to read them, because it'll mangle the punctuation & accented characters.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
FTFY.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
.â.â.
How many years is it now?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
People will buy any old shit with an Apple logo on it, so they'll probably watch any old shit too.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
they need CONTENT PEOPLE WANT TO WATCH.
exclusive content.
That's what this is really about. Netflix, Amazon, CBS All Access, and now Apple - they're the new premium "cable" networks. Except now, you've got competing incompatible hardware platforms and separate bills for streaming all this shit. It might almost make you miss the days when you had a single cable bill and could watch everything you paid for from a single cable box.
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DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
I should have spelled it out but I figured it was implied this was all exclusive stuff since Apple was inking the deal...
It might almost make you miss the days when you had a single cable bill and could watch everything you paid for from a single cable box.
Not even close to missing that - because I can watch all of this from a single box (AppleTV can play HBO, Amazon Video, Netflix and Apple content) and I can easily break away from stations I do not need for a while. I subscribe to HBO maybe half a year for example, and then drop it for a while...
Even with a few separate streaming bills the cost is way lower than cable, and way easier to manage what and when I subscribe. What we have going on now I feel like is a fantastic situation where you can get almost any service for a month at $10 and watch a ton of great content.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
AppleTV can't directly buy/rent content from Vudu or Amazon.
So you have to go to Vudo or Amazon on a phone (which you'd have with you anyway), who cares? I had to activate CBS on Amazon once to watch a show, it took a minute.
The important thing is that I can SEE the content via the AppleTV.
And yeah, you're probably saving money but someone who wants sports channels,
At this point any sport you would care to watch is also on AppleTV via apps, often with a fuller range of games you can watch than you could with cable.
An actual baseball fan would be nuts not to prefer getting MLBTv and watching that way.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Gadgets with an Apple logo on them are very different from content that happens to have an Apple logo that streams by in the credits.
Dead Steve Jobs to Tim Cook: "Do something!"
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
wow, this is so cool. I can't wait.