Spielberg Vs. Netflix
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One of cinema’s most beloved directors, Steven Spielberg, has drawn the ire of the online film community for his latest stance. As the Academy Governor for the directors branch, he intends to propose change that would block Netflix films from becoming Oscars eligibile. What that change is not known as of yet, but it did spark debate regarding Spielberg’s thoughts on streaming platforms.
The main criticism of Spielberg’s anti-streaming bias suggests that the director is out of touch with how audiences experience movies today. To Spielberg, the theatrical experience is key when it comes to film and the process that goes into filmmaking. Why do people choose not to go to the movies? There could be many factors: it’s too expensive (which it is), no access to theaters, lack of interest, or maybe because of the increased role streaming plays in entertainment.
Netflix has become synonymous with movie watching. If you recommend a movie to someone more likely than not they will ask you, is it on Netflix? Others online made very good points in support of Netflix, mentioning the incredible freedom they give their filmmakers, as well as the opportunities they give to minorities. A lot of people also argued that it doesn’t matter what platform you view a movie in - if it is good enough then it will be appreciated on any platform.
As it stands the Academy’s rules for a film to be eligible for Best Picture are: be over 40 minutes long, and have played in a movie theater in Los Angeles County for paid admission for at least seven consecutive days. There are a lot of other really technical things, but that is the point of interest in this Spielberg vs. Netflix discussion. The Academy’s bylaws also state that a film cannot have its first public exhibition in any other form that theatrical, which includes but is not limited to: broadcast or cable television, PPV/VOD, DVD, or internet transmission, aka streaming. So as it stands, Netflix and streaming movies don’t qualify unless they put them in theaters. This is why HBO movies don’t receive Oscar nominations, but Emmys. I feel if a streaming movie follows these rules then it should be eligible for consideration.
A perfect example of this is Roma, Netflix’s biggest Oscar frontrunner yet. It was my favorite film of 2018 and my pick for best picture. Netflix released the film for a couple weeks in select thetaers before releasing it across their streaming platform. I did not watch Roma in a movie theater, I wish I had the option to watch it in a movie theater, but I’m happy I got the chance to watch it regardless. Since Netflix right now has to follow these rules, I feel they might as well try and give the films it wants to push that theatrical experience. Since Netflix produces a ton of content, maybe too much, they would have to pick and choose what to market.
Netflix has a lot of money to spend on campaigning, as seen with Roma. An estimated $50 million was spent on its For Your Consideration campaign. This, in turn, crushed a lot of the other foreign film nominees like Capernaum and Shoplifters which were incredible movies in their own right but suffered for attention since their studios had no chance against Netflix..
All of this leads to the question, what is Spielberg going to propose? I think the ruling that stands now is pretty fair. A lot of the other big film awards follow a similar guideline. The Golden Globes require the films to be screened in the Los Angeles area in theaters but also count PPV cable and digital for seven consecutive days (but not subscription based). The BAFTAs say films have to be available to the UK public by screening in at least 10 commercial screens for seven days in aggregate. Even the Independent Spirit Awards, which highlight a lot of indies and smaller films, require a theatrical run of at least seven consecutive days or be shown at one of six film festivals being: Los Angeles Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, New York Film Festival, Sundance, Telluride or Toronto. This is something I think the Academy should look at implementing to give other films that might not have the capability of an extended theatrical run at shot at eligibility.
If Spielberg proposes to extend the rule for theatrical run times to four weeks, then that also screws over those films that go limited for one week at the end of the year in order to qualify. Maybe the solution is to add an official rule for the 90-day theatrical window. something Amazon does already with its releases. This is something Netflix has already battled with against the Cannes Film Festival, as its drama with them deals with France’s 36-month waiting period between theatrical and streaming release. 90 days is much more reasonable, but who knows if Netflix will want to even budge there.
The way we watch film has evolved and wanting to relegate and dismiss streaming movies is a complete disservice to filmmakers and audeinces, alike. Netflix has a long way to go before it’s considered the savior of cinema, like maybe adding more films pre-1980 to its catalog, but it is giving an outlet for a lot of underrepresented voices. This also doesn’t mean that Steven Spielberg is a terrible human being or someone who hasn’t done so much for cinema. He is in part the reason why I love film so much, and I guarantee it’s why so many people love movies. Spielberg’s way of thinking about cinema doesn’t reflect the way many audiences experience it, and hopefully others within the Academy will help him see that.
