In this day and age streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon have caused a battle within the film industry. Originally media platforms were just a way to watch previously released films from the cinema. But nowadays they’ve made and supported their own content, and it’s not just TV shows and indie films but big budget films too.
Since the dawn of Netflix filmmakers have been interested in the idea of more creative freedom, more money to spend on films and a bigger audience. Yes, the service is subscription based but with a large amount of subscribers means a large audience already built up with access to it. Films such as Okja and Bright proved as a sort of testing ground for bigger budget films made for Netflix from the ground up. These were relative successes which paved the way for films such as the Oscar-Winning Roma.
Progressively, Netflix has risked more and gained more trust from its followers. Filmmakers enjoy the risk-taking when designing their films, but what about films traditionally released in cinema? A lot of people argue that certain films were designed to be ‘experienced’ on the big screen. This is what deters a lot of filmmakers from Netflix, such as Christopher Nolan and Stephen Spielberg. Could you imagine watching Dunkirk in your living room first? Or experiencing Ready Player One on a tablet instead of a huge IMAX screen?
Even though I’m here telling you the pros and cons of watching films at home or at a cinema, there is a compromise that filmmakers and Netflix have come to. The Irishman is a film coming out exclusively on Netflix this November, made by Martin Scorsese. The film is billed as an ‘event’ film with a starry cast and an epic story. People cried out for a theatrical release and that is exactly what Netflix is gonna do. For a week or so they will release it in cinemas before it debuts on the service. This isn’t the first case of this happening and hopefully it won’t be the last.
So if you’re worrying about seeing the latest superhero team-up film on the television instead of a cinema screen then don’t worry, it’s not a shift that’s happening in the industry. It’s just the industry adapting to the evolving filmmaking landscape. Go out and support the industry by seeing the latest releases on the big screen, and then catch up with the latest big hit on Netflix another night. For us, the audience, it’s a win-win!
Thank you for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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