Netflix and Amazon are at the table
Stars weigh in on making films that skip theatres in favour of streaming
TORONTO When it comes to choosing film projects, Lily Collins tries to look at the story, not the distribution platform.
“I make stories because I think that they’re going to tell something important and have an open conversation about things,” says the Golden Globe-nominated actress.
And what a conversation her latest film, Netflix’s newly released Okja, has started.
Besides the issues touched on in director-co-writer Bong Joon-ho’s fable of a South Korean girl and her genetically modified pig, the film has also sparked debate about video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Studios making a bigger push into the film world.
When Okja screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May, it was in competition for the Palme d’Or top prize in a field that also included another Netflix film, The Meyerowitz Stories. It was Netflix’s first time having films in competition at Cannes and some, particularly in the French film community, weren’t happy.
Jury president Pedro Almodóvar said he didn’t want the Palme d’Or to go to a movie that wouldn’t be shown theatrically. The festival also changed its rules so that, beginning next year, all competition films must commit to a theatrical release in France.
“I would love to see (Netflix) partner with theatrical, because I think it’s hard to approximate the magic of what it means to go somewhere and ... see something magical on the screen,” says Gabriela Cowperthwaite, director of the recently released film Megan Leavey.
“That said, I am a huge Netflix fan and I trust them creatively to give me an amazing experience in my home.”
“I think the more opportunities filmmakers have to make their movies, the better; and the more people willing to take risks by giving filmmakers money to make their movies, the better,” says Seth Rogen, whose new series Preacher is into its second season on AMC.
“That being said, I love going to the movies. I think the shared experience of going to the movies is incredibly important. I don’t think only big, visual effects-driven movies are the types of movies that are important to see in large groups of people.”
Netflix paid a reported US$60 million to acquire the rights to the recently released Brad Pitt-produced political drama War Machine, making it one of the streaming service’s most ambitious projects yet. And its upcoming sci-fi cop thriller Bright, starring Will Smith, has a reported price tag of $90 million.
Topher Grace, who stars alongside Pitt in War Machine, feels Netflix fills a void.
“It’s the kind of film that Hollywood used to be able to make that they’re not able to make anymore and I think everyone is really grateful that there’s a place like Netflix that’s willing to,” says Grace. “I think actors are all really excited because it’s more good work.”
Netflix is a more contentious platform in the film industry than Amazon because it releases movies directly onto its service, which upsets theatre companies. Amazon, by contrast, will release a film in theatres before making it available to its subscribers. Amazon landed a huge hit last year when its acquisition Manchester by the Sea which earned six Oscar nominations and won two awards, including best actor for Casey Affleck.
“They (at Amazon) really, really respect the theatrical release,” says Kumail Nanjiani, star and co-writer of the film The Big Sick.
“For a movie like ours, which is about community and connecting with people, watching it with a bunch of people who you don’t know is part of the experience. And what Amazon is doing is they’re allowing movies to be made, idiosyncratic point-of-view movies ... and they’re also allowing them to be in the theatres, which is very, very exciting.
While some theatre chains feel threatened by Netflix’s push into big budget films, Canadian comedy star Dan Aykroyd doesn’t have much sympathy for them, or the big studios upset with the trend.
“Aw, too bad, poor little film industry. Aw, they didn’t see it coming, they didn’t see digital coming, they didn’t see the platform coming. Too bad, sorry,” says Aykroyd, who recently narrated the documentary series The World Without Canada on History. “Netflix has got all kinds of money, creative people who want to take bold chances and give creators what they need, the resources and the scope that they need to make their shows.”
He says the digital revolution is changing things for the better.
“It opens things up and it takes it off the table of the elite seven sisters — (like) Warner Brothers, Paramount, Disney. It gives them real challenge and it makes them step up and hopefully get their game up to a better quality and opening up to new talent where they’re not just relying on what they think are sure-things like tent poles.”