Steven Spielberg to propose Oscar rules that could keep streaming films out of contention
In the wake of "Roma's" three Oscar wins on Sunday, director Steven Spielberg is taking aim at streaming films' chances at future Academy Awards.
Spielberg will present his case to peers at an upcoming annual board of governors meeting at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where the award-winning auteur will propose rule changes that would prevent streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu from competing in the Oscars without its projects getting a full theatrical run first. The news was first reported on Indiewire. "Steven feels strongly about the difference between the streaming and theatrical situation," a representative of Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment told the site.
[...] "Once you commit to a television format, you're a TV movie," Spielberg said last year during a conversation with ITV News about the increasingly blurry line that separates various media. "You certainly — if it's a good show — deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar."
[...] Spielberg had the topic on his mind when he accepted the filmmaker award at the Cinema Audio Society Awards last month. "I'm a firm believer that movie theaters need to be around forever," he said, according to Variety. Stressing that he very much admired the state of contemporary television, both for its stories and its tech advances, Spielberg conceded that "the sound is better in homes more than it ever has been in history." But, he added, "there's nothing like going to a big dark theater with people you've never met before and having the experience wash over you."
Also at Movieweb, Observer, and A.V. Club.
See also: The Spielberg vs. Netflix battle could mean collateral damage for indies at the Oscars
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Netflix Won't be Going to Cannes After All
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by progo on Sunday March 03 2019, @11:24AM (1 child)
This sort of thing is a move against do-it-yourself publishing, and he probably knows it.
Almost anyone can buy $8k worth of gear, hire some starving actor friends for peanuts, slave away in shooting and post-production for months, and put the result on Amazon without anyone's say-so. But if it becomes popular and very highly reviewed, oh sorry it's not eligible for an Oscar because you didn't go through the proper channels.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Sunday March 03 2019, @11:31AM
Of course, the question is whether the films will be irrelevant because they don't get an Oscar, or if rather the Oscar will become irrelevant because the popular films cannot get it anyway.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.