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Netflix Makes Statement In Wake Of Steven Spielberg's Attempt To Block Streaming Giant From Oscars (deadline.com)
Netflix has addressed Steven Spielberg's concerns, after the legendary director indicated he'd throw his weight behind making Oscars harder to reach for Netflix films like "Roma". From a report: The streaming giant didn't name Spielberg directly in its tweet, but considering his views on Netflix films and the Academy Awards, it seems like the statement is associated with the director's thoughts about their participation as contenders in award season. "We love cinema," the official Netflix Twitter account wrote. They continue with a list of things they loved including: Access for people who can't always afford, or live in towns without, theaters; letting everyone, everywhere enjoy releases at the same time; and giving filmmakers more ways to share art. "These things are not mutually exclusive," they concluded in a tweet that could be considered a clap back at the filmmaker. IndieWire reported last week that Spielberg, who serves as the current governor of the Academy's directors branch, intends to argue in favor of changing the Oscars' rules to prevent streaming services from entering the campaign field at the Academy Board of Governors' next meeting. Because Netflix is a home-viewing platform, critics like Spielberg say that it's better-suited for the Emmys, which celebrate TV, a medium inherent to home-viewing.
Theater ticket sales in 2017 were $11.1 billion for the U.S. + Canada, $40.6 billion worldwide.
2017 sales of the same movies on disc and digital format were $20.5 billion for the U.S., $47.8 billion worldwide. Compounding this is the fact that disc and digital movies are cheaper per viewer. So each dollar spent on disc and digital formats represents more viewers than a dollar spent at the theater.
People view theatrical release movies predominantly in the home, not in theaters. It's been this way since the 1980s when movie rentals on videotape became a thing. If you honestly make "viewed in theaters" vs "viewed at home" the distinguishing factor, then no film (except those intentionally withheld from disc and digital distribution) qualifies for the Oscars.
Spielberg gave his opinion, _as the guy that heads the governing board that decides such things._
I'd like to know his opinion on shorts, which show in a few theaters in LA and NY environs two weeks before the awards.
The Academy Awards predate television and were a place for both long-form and short-form media long before the Emmys were around.
I'm not sure what the solution is, but most films/movies are made through the studio system, large or independent, then find distribution on TV or in theaters later.
The problem is that movie theaters are a racket that are in cahoots with big studios to keep non-traditional studio fare out of the theaters in the first place, which is why Netflix had to directly rent auditoriums to be Oscar eligible. They were not skirting the rules, they were busting up a monopoly. And I welcome the practice.
Maybe I'm dumb and don't have a memory, but I don't recall Roma being up for any Emmys. I don't recall any movie being up for both an Emmy and an Oscar. I don't know if it's an unwritten rule, but if it is I think a nice compromise would be for both governing bodies to allow a film to be up for one or the other, not both.
Spielberg is and always has been the mouthpiece for the big studios, and he's just the figurehead the studios are putting forth to protect themselves from more nimble 'rogue' studios like Netflix from eating their lunch.
I'm all for keeping walled gardens out of the Oscars. This is has nothing to do with venue, but universal access to venue. Does the Netflix content ever come to DVD? Surprisingly to some, many people still watch movies (at home) the old-fashioned way.
If we were about to split up the Oscars, my first choice for a dividing line would be franchise films on one side of the house, non-franchise films on the other side of the house. Then we could pretty much eliminate the "best original script" Oscar from the franchise side of the house, because after the first installment, these rarely ever have an original script. (Every five years or so, you could award a special-edition originality achievement award, for when a franchise film miraculously exceeds the established mold in a valiant subsequent effort.)