Cinema vs Netflix

The battle to overthrow a Monopoly and personal condolences to dying traditions

From it’s emergence, Hollywood has been a monopoly. What’s their scheme? Selling tickets, making billions. Reasonably you, as a loyal blockbuster expectator when you see a giant’s scheme being threatened, acknowledge the foreshadowing and ecstatically expect a fight with hollywood-like action. Your predictions were correct, here is the action:

Uprising battle: In the 80’s the emergence of home videos accompanied a deal agreed upon by studios to maintain “the primacy of theatrical exhibition”. The so called “release window” dictated that all films must first be released in theaters and a home video release of the title could only occur after a set period of time or ‘window’. This window shrunk throughout the years from 6 months to 90 days.

Now shall we talk about the Netflix business model? The money comes from subscriptions, so it’s content has to be engaging enough to attract new customers and to maintain current ones. As such would be a bad strategy for the company to simply rely on content it doesn’t control. That’s what led the Netflix studios to be created. To avoid turbulence with other studios about the ‘release window’ their primary focus was producing television shows. In 2013 streamed the studios’ first hit, David Fincher’s television show ​House Of Cards​.

First attack and counterattack: In 2015 the Netflix studio, ignoring the “release window”, declared a fight to a great portion of Hollywood cinema chains releasing their first film ‘​Beast of No Nation’ directly to the streaming platform. Four major theater chains counterattacked as they got together to make a stand against the studio’s move. They declared the film would only be allowed in their chain if the Netflix release waited 90 days. Netflix did not abide. In fact, the idea of going through trouble to market for a theater release that wasn’t even beneficial for the company's subscription business model, was disregarded. If you wanted to see the film, Netflix demanded you sign up. Why would Netflix want you to go to a cinema and see it?

The Plotting: To attract more subscribers Netflix needed awarded productions. In fact, “for years insiders have suggested Netflix desperately wants a Best Picture Oscar”. But there was one problem. In order to be eligible for Oscar nominee a film must screen in at least one LA county theater for seven days. Netflix went around that barrier by cultivating good relationships with small independent movie theaters who aren’t “particularly bothered by traditional release windows”. Also with the award goal in mind Netflix has been pitching big-filmmakers, who in turn, usually prefer a theater release. Yet, Netflix was able to pull the strings that year and budgeted big names including David Lynch, Coen Brothers and Afonso Cuarón. Cuarón brought the first real odds of an academy award to the studio with the film​ Roma.

The enemies strike back: Multiple insiders from critics that vote for the Oscar suggested that ​Roma was one of the favorite nominees for best picture in 2019. That was until a massive counter-campaign began. Amongst the oscar voters many were conservative Hollywood guards, who were not very enthusiastic about this “young disruptor” coming in and taking over the industry. One of the critics said: “A vote for Roma means a vote for Netflix. And that’s a vote for the death of cinema by TV.” Unsurprisingly ​Roma Best Picture Oscar was lost to the questionably Oscar baity to the film ​Green Book.​

Irishman,​ with an all star cast and Directed by Martin Scorcese offer a major threat to theaters in the 2020 Oscars. In fact some predicted that if it had won best picture it would represent the final disruption for a film industry struggling to navigate a rapidly changing exhibition landscape. Yet, despite the predictions, it lost to Parasite​. Turnwater came in the same month of the 2020 Oscars, that was about to completely change the scenario of this fight. An additional variable no one was accounting for, COVID-19 and lockdown.

Turntables: Even in some of the countries people are allowed to circulate, cinemas have not been opened yet, and in the countries that did, a significant fraction of people have been avoiding going to them for their enclosed risky environment. Numerous big-budget productions that account for most of the box-office revenue were delayed. In fact, the release was delayed even for finished films as, in the face of restrictions worldwide the studios don’t want to risk releasing a flop. This situation is extremely damaging for theaters and puts the business in a victimized position. Meanwhile, with people stuck at home, Netflix subscriptions have grown at a rate never seen before. Lockdown was a catalyst for the overthrow of the theatrical tradition of cinema.

Furthermore, this unnatural change has provided a picture of some of the unique qualities that streaming services can offer that most people would have never considered. A fantastic example is the film ‘​I’m Thinking Of Ending Things’. I​ t was produced for the home video format, and for the same reason fitting perfectly in a TV screen without those blackbars on top and bottom of the screen. The content and pace of the film was shaped in the premise of being released in stream apps only. The movie requires you to pause

and search things at multiple points and has thus benefited from the streaming format, in ways many would not have been considered plausible before.

The end? Will cinema undoubtedly become obsolete as it gets replaced by streaming services? Is it simply a matter of technological advancements? Or is there more to it? Release window aside, as personally highly biased I believe the immersive cinematic experience is irreplaceable regardless of how great home projection technology becomes. I acknowledge I might be as mistaken as people who said vinyl was irreplaceable, certain that a whole generation would not opt for convenience over quality. For the time being, despite seeing value in the streaming convenience, I will keep supporting local theatres while I still can. That is --​when​ and ​if-​ - cinemas reopen.

Sources Mendelson, Scott. “Coronavirus, Not Disney Or Netflix, Is What’s Threatening Movie Theaters.” ​Forbes​, 16 Oct.2020,​www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2020/10/16/coronavirus-not-disney-or-netflix-is- whats-killing-movie-theaters​ . New Atlas. “Netflix Vs. Cinema: How a Disruptive Streaming Service Declared War on Hollywood.” New Atlas, 21Nov.2019,​https://newatlas.com/home-entertainment/netflix-disruptive-streaming-hollywood-cin ema-exhibition-war​ .