FILM INDUSTRY UPDATES

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Today we cover a case study - the distribution of the Netflix film Roma (2018, dir. A. Cuaron) by Curzon - which has profound implications for the traditional film industry. You should make notes that are ready for an exam essay.

• The case study: Roma review. Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian 29.11.18
• Roma was in select Curzon cinemas from 29 November and on Netflix from 14 December.
• "
   Now, a note of reservation. This movie is produced by the streaming giant Netflix – yet far from being praised for having bankrolled a masterpiece, Netflix is widely attacked for intending this work to be consumed mostly on digital platforms, and permitting only a relatively small cinema release in exclusive partnership with one chain. It has effectively been accused of  suppressing the big-screen identity of its own product."

• The background: "Netflix v Cannes: what the film festival feud means for the future of cinema"

"The focus of their wrath was the Netflix logo that preceded Bong Joon-ho’s Okja and Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories. It was the first time the streaming platform had been accepted into the main competition and the pushback was immediate. Film purists were already upset by the festival’s embrace of TV series, with Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake and David Lynch’s return to Twin Peaks both given special screenings. But Netflix proved a bridge too far. In France, a film can’t appear on streaming platforms until 36 months after its release in cinemas, but Netflix’s films didn’t get even a token cinema release. There is a rumour that the Cannes protests were orchestrated via a text message sent by French exhibitors. Festival director Thierry Frémaux responded quickly to the fuss, imposing a ban on streaming films in competition from 2018. Nearly a year on, Sarandos and the festival seemed to have buried the hatchet, and the reports in the trades are that five Netflix films had actually been accepted by the festival. Then came news that Netflix was about to withdraw its five titles – a piece of brinksmanship designed to ruffle festival programmers.

But the suspicion remains that films financed by streaming services are, to use Frémaux’s term, “hybrids”. It’s not unthinkable to suggest that, in time, these digital platforms might yet team up to found their own festival (indeed, France currently has five TV events, from the long-running Monte Carlo television festival to this year’s inaugural Canneseries) and establish the streaming movie as a genre of its own. While Netflix and Cannes are engaged in a cold war, the fight for the future of cinema is warming up."

• Cinema fights back: Hollywood gears up for battle with streaming giants The Times 20.12.18 Simon Duke, Business editor

Because they’re spending so much time glued to their smartphone, consumers crave real-world experiences and contact with their fellow man. It might surprise, but the audience trend for streaming films has not led to fewer consumers choosing cinema screening experiences: 2018 is a record year with 167 million UK attendances and US box Office revenue of $12 billion. This may be because upmarket operators such as Everyman and Curzon provide sociable experiences with food and drink, comfortable seats, high quality sound and vision. Leicester Square's refurbished Odeon now provides top-of-the-range experiences at some £40 a seat with a range of other prices available. The battle in numbers: 

Netflix has prodigious firepower to fuel its Hollywood dreams. It spent as much as $13 billion on content this year, with its budget set to expand to more than $22 billion by 2022. About 85 per cent of the total will be spent on its own TV shows and films. But Netflix is not aiming for a meaningful slice of global cinema takings. It sees films as bait to hook more subscribers. Netflix has 140 million paying customers, and needs to keep growing to stay on top of its $12 billion debt pile. Its assault on the silver screen sets the scene for a ferocious battle between Hollywood and Silicon Valley next year. So far traditional media and the new entrants from the technology sector have rubbed along quite amicably. Netflix and Amazon have handed many billions of dollars to content creators for streaming rights over recent years. However, the period of peaceful co-existence is drawing to an end. Film studios have always relied on distributors to put their content in front of consumers. Traditionally, cinema chains and TV stations have been their main route to viewers. More recently download stores and streaming sites have taken on that role. However, content producers are increasingly looking to cut out the middlemen. Next year Disney will launch its own streaming service, and will pull Pixar and Marvel films from Netflix in the United States. Comcast, the American entertainment and cable giant that has just taken over Sky, is expected to follow suit, as is the owner of Warner Bros studios.

This trend creates a problem for the streaming services. Studios provide an estimated one fifth of the content available on Netflix. The potential loss of these films and series could force an even greater rise in its production spending than envisaged. Breaking into streaming will come at a huge cost to content creators. Netflix agreed this month to pay Warner about $100 million for the streaming rights to Friends. If the studio wanted to run it exclusively on its own service, it would have to sacrifice that income.

• Netflix retaliates and expands its stable and rival Hollywood: Netflix brings Hollywood to your TV The Times 19.12.18

The Times 19. 12. 18

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  Mary Poppins opens blockbuster year The Times 16.12.18
• Film fans left reeling by £40 cinema seats The Times 5.12.18
• Amazon in talks to release original films in IMAX in 2019 The Telegraph 31.12.18 

Amazon is moving more of its films into physical cinemas, fuelling speculation that it may buy its own cinema chain. Its film The Aeronautsmay be released in IMAX. It is in talks with 

• Netflix: theatrical cinema release The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 01.01.19