Steven Spielberg Says Netflix Films shouldn't Quality for Oscar Noms.

[JamesG.]

Steven Spielberg Argues Netflix Films Shouldn't Qualify for Oscar Nominations
by Nick Romano
March 24, 2018


Add Steven Spielberg to the list of filmmakers who are concerned about the rise of Netflix.

The director spoke about the “clear and present danger” the streaming platforms pose to filmgoers in a recent interview with ITV News, and why, he argues, a Netflix film should not qualify for the Academy Awards.





While Spielberg praised our golden age of television as the greatest it’s “ever been in the history of television,” he also called it a “challenge to cinema” in that it pulls people away from the movie theater.

“A lot of studios would rather just make branded tentpole, guaranteed box office hits from their inventory of branded, successful movies than take chances on smaller films,” he said in reference to world-building franchises like Marvel, DC, and Star Wars.

“And those smaller films the studios used to make routinely are now going to Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix.”





This isn’t all that farfetched. The streaming platforms have been entering the cinematic arena by picking up the rights to indie films that typically go to distributors like Fox Searchlight (which released this year’s Best Picture winner The Shape of Water), Focus Features (which released Darkest Hour), and Sony Pictures Classics (which released Call Me By Your Name).

The Big Sick, one of 2017’s most talked about indie releases, was an Amazon release that partnered with Lionsgate for theatrical, while Netflix continued to go for Oscars gold with films like Mudbound, Strong Island, and Icarus.





“Few and few filmmakers are going to struggle to raise money or to go to compete in Sundance and possibly get one of the specialty labels to release their film theatrically, publicly, and more of them are going to let the SVOD business finance their films — maybe with the promise of a slight one-week theatrical window to qualify them for awards,” Spielberg predicted.

“But in fact, once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie. The good show deserves an Emmy, but not an Oscar.”





According to the official Academy rules, narrative feature-length films are required to screen in Los Angeles county for seven consecutive days in order to be considered for Oscar nominations. Netflix, as a result, has been releasing some of its titles in limited theaters.

Spielberg reiterated, “I don’t believe films that are just given token qualifications in a couple of theaters for less than a week should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.”

http://ew.com/movies/2018/03/24/stev...etflix-oscars/

[kylor]

Netflix's response:

[Doctor Jack]

“maybe with the promise of a slight one-week theatrical window to qualify them for awards,” ... How is this any different than when you and your contemporaries get your movies in 2 theaters on December 31st so you can qualify for Oscars. Or am I reading this wrong?

[cinemaphile]

He's not wrong

[cynatnite]

Let me get this straight. He's saying that Netflix shouldn't qualify because people can watch it in their homes....kind of like HBO who also distributes films in theaters, too.

[SarahS]

Originally Posted by cynatnite

Let me get this straight. He's saying that Netflix shouldn't qualify because people can watch it in their homes....kind of like HBO who also distributes films in theaters, too.

Hence the moral of the story is....it has to be in a theater. There are others awards for "TV" programming.

[cynatnite]

Originally Posted by SarahS

Hence the moral of the story is....it has to be in a theater. There are others awards for "TV" programming.

Thing is, it follows the same rules as the rest. It releases in theaters in the LA area for a week to qualify as Academy rules state. Why should it be singled out apart from HBO films and others? It's not actual TV anyway. It's a streaming service.

[Zillamon51]

I understand where he's coming from, and in principle I agree. But the rules are the rules, and the films qualify if they meet the criteria. If they make it harder to qualify, like upping the number of theaters or the length of the run, it might shut out some smaller films that aren't made for streaming. All I can see them doing, is possibly adding a rule that a film can't be released for home viewing until after a certain time has elapsed from its qualifying theatrical run.

[Doctor Jack]

I said this in the 91st Oscar thread when this came up but is Spielberg going to call Scorsese’s The Irishman a TV movie when that comes out?

[Kazutaka]

[mwynn]

[Hoke Moseley]

[shinobipopcorn]

Did you three do that on purpose?

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

He's not wrong

Yes, he is. Netflix is just another means of distribution, to compete against overpriced cinema tickets. And it is not television.

All movies are TV movies. They spend several weeks in the theatre if they're lucky, followed by an eternity of being viewed on TV going forward (streaming, discs, cable).

[CyberpunkCentral]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Yes, he is. Netflix is just another means of distribution, to compete against overpriced cinema tickets. And it is not television.

Then I guess we should consider all TV made movies for the Oscars.

[HorrorBlu]

I don't disagree with him.

That said, his movie The Post played in like 2 theaters the last week of December and went wide in mid January. It should have been considered next awards season, not this one.

[xbs2034]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

I don't disagree with him.

That said, his movie The Post played in like 2 theaters the last week of December and went wide in mid January. It should have been considered next awards season, not this one.

It opened in 9 theaters, and stayed in theaters until it's wide expansion. I do think that's different than Netflix films or pure qualifying runs where they play in two theaters for one week and are then pulled from release.

[stvn1974]

Spielberg just doesn't want more competition with his yearly Oscar bait films.

[Ray Jackson]

The irony of this is so thick and putrid I feel like I need to take a shower.

Who is Steven "Captain Blockbuster" Spielberg to talk about what we need to do to bring back the days when studios were willing to finance smaller, indie films? Spielberg, more than any living director, is responsible for shifting the Hollywood paradigm toward extravaganza-style, big-budget popcorn movies.

I'm not even sure I understand exactly what his argument is?

The fact that Netflix might be willing to produce the kind of low-budget, arthouse content that studios are rarely willing to touch is a bad thing?

What exactly is he doing as a director to bring audiences that kind of filmmaking?

...making movies like Ready Player One?

Hey Steve, why don't you tell your partners at DreamWorks that your next picture is going to be a small art film about childhood poverty in Florida?

No...you'd rather make Indiana Jones 5 and a pointless remake of Westside Story?

Then shut the hell up you geriatric hypocrite.

[CyberpunkCentral]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

The irony of this is so thick and putrid I feel like I need to take a shower.

Who is Steven "Captain Blockbuster" Spielberg to talk about what we need to do to bring back the days when studios were willing to finance smaller, indie films? Spielberg, more than any living director, is responsible for shifting the Hollywood paradigm toward extravaganza-style, big-budget popcorn movies.

I'm not even sure I understand exactly what his argument is?

The fact that Netflix might be willing to produce the kind of low-budget, arthouse content that studios are rarely willing to touch is a bad thing?

What exactly is he doing as a director to bring audiences that kind of filmmaking?

...making movies like Ready Player One?

Hey Steve, why don't you tell your partners at DreamWorks that your next picture is going to be a small art film about childhood poverty in Florida?

No...you'd rather make Indiana Jones 5 and a pointless remake of Westside Story?

Then shut the hell up you geriatric hypocrite.

Yeah, how dare he praise Netflix by saying they should get Emmies. The nerve of the guy.