Post-Oscars, we all thought the biggest lasting debate would be “Green Book’s” controversial Best Picture win. Instead, what’s actually becoming the real discussion is the future of film distribution and how the Academy, Netflix, and filmmakers all fit into it. We’ve heard Steven Spielberg’s side of the argument. And now, thanks to Paul Schrader’s Facebook (seriously, follow this man), we have another revered Hollywood filmmaker’s take on the streaming versus theatrical debate.
“I have no animus against Netflix,” wrote Schrader in a recent post.
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He continued, “Distribution models evolve. The notion of squeezing 200+ people into a dark unventilated space to see a flickering image was created by exhibition economics not any notion of the ‘theatrical experience.’ Netflix allows many financially marginal films to have a platform and that’s a good thing.”
The filmmaker goes on to describe the situation of finding a distributor for his Oscar-nominated film, “First Reformed.” And despite his reverence for Netflix and the quality of his latest work, the streaming service passed. As did most everyone else.
“Netflix, which could have snapped it up as easily as it swats a fly on its ass, passed. As did Amazon. As did Sony Classics and Focus. But A24 saw a commercial path for this austere aesthetic film,” revealed the filmmaker.
Because of A24’s commitment to the film, Schrader feels that “First Reformed” was able to not only find life in theaters but also become what it is today, an Oscar-nominated film. He wrote, “As a result, First Reformed found a life. A24 rolled it out through festivals and screenings from 2017 to 2018. And it survived. Not a big money maker but profitable for A24 and a jewel in their crown.”
This is where Schrader contends that if ‘Reformed’ hit Netflix, instead, the film would have been lost in the sea of other high-profile projects. When hypothesizing whether or not “First Reformed” would have survived on Netflix, the filmmaker posited, “Perhaps[.] ‘Bird Box’ and ‘Kissing Booth’ can fight their way through the vast sea of Netflix product to find popular acceptance, but ‘First Reformed?’ Unlikely. Relegated to film esoterica.”
But the real crux of the filmmaker’s Facebook proposal is to present a solution of his own. And surprisingly, in all the talk of “Netflix vs. Theaters,” this is a solution that hasn’t been proposed before, and does make a fair bit of sense.
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He wrote, “My proposal: For club cinemas (Alamo Draft House, Metrograph, Burns Center, Film Forum) to form an alliance with a two-tiered streaming system (first tier: Criterion/Mubi, second tier: Netflix/Amazon). Distribution models are in flux. It’s not as simple as theatrical versus streaming.”
With Steven Spielberg mounting a defense against Netflix, and the rest of Hollywood trying to play nice with streaming partners, while also keeping them at arm’s length, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of years. Either way, Schrader’s right, the paradigm is in flux and things are changing forever.