Hoodwinked Streaming Canada

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Donahue Granados

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Aug 3, 2024, 4:48:20 PM8/3/24

to bronimrerazz

Gianluca Sergi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

This bold move has managed the rather rare feat of uniting everyone in the film industry in utter contempt. Filmmakers feel betrayed, as they had in good faith designed movies meant for the big screen to be experienced in a theatrical setting. Cinemas, both independents and major chains, feel abandoned in perhaps their most desperate hour of need.

As if that were not enough, studio partners feel hoodwinked as their initial investment (often covering 50% or more of the overall price of a movie) was made with the understanding that it was towards a theatrical release and related profits, not to bolster subscription numbers for a streaming platform.

Framing these decisions as being influenced solely by consumer satisfaction ignores history and forgets that while the cinema (and television) model has survived countless crises, streaming has not yet faced its first.

AT&T is a technology company in the business of 5g, mobile telephony and internet pipelines. Content is acquired to serve those pipelines and justify their existence and expense. Warner Brothers is in the business of making films as its primary function, later also ensuring they reach the widest possible audience, using the most effective means of distribution.

Film is not dead, not even dying in fact. It is growing significantly in most regions in the world, while proving stubbornly stable in the US. It is understandable to be concerned about the present but to ignore the data because it does not match the narrative is shortsighted.

Dry up that reservoir of movies feeding the theatrical ecosystem and companies will quickly look like any other streaming service vying for attention online. This will make them less stable and more open to market turbulence, not less.

Streaming is, as yet, untested by crisis. There is no history of it. No rulebook on how to react to an unforeseen development. Film and television have a long history of survival: declared dead many times, but always surviving. Something to ponder while we prepare for future crises.