Sam Mendes is an award-winning filmmaker and clearly has a love of all forms of live entertainment. As someone that writes and directs films, working with actors of all types, he’s also very much a fan of live theater and stage plays. But COVID-19 has effectively closed all forms of live entertainment for the near future, putting the long term health of live theater in jeopardy. In an op-ed released by Financial Times, the filmmaker has an idea for how to help live theater survive the pandemic, and it’s going to require some support from Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming services.
Mendes’ idea is simple. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing live venues to shutter, the filmmaker believes that the companies that have been benefiting the most from lockdown, thanks to content created by actors, writers, producers, and directors, should be the ones giving back to help live theater survive.
“While a huge percentage of working people have suffered over these past three months, there are also many (whisper it) whom Covid-19 has made rich,” he explained. “It would be deeply ironic if the streaming services — Netflix, Amazon Prime et al — should be making lockdown millions from our finest acting, producing, writing and directing talent, while the very arts culture that nurtured that talent pool is allowed to die.”
He continued, “Is there anyone among those people willing to use a fraction of their Covid-19 windfall to help those who have been mortally wounded? If so, I hope you’re reading this, and that you are able to think of the arts landscape as more than just a ‘content provider,’ but instead as an ecosystem that supports us all.”
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Often, on The Playlist, we talk about the future of the box office in relation to cinemas and feature films. But clearly, the struggles of movie theaters pales in comparison to the uncertain future of stage plays, concerts, and musicals. And though those people who watch Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and the rest might not all be avid theater-goers, but they are fans of the work released by the very people that help create those shows. So, Mendes’ plan isn’t all that crazy.
Of course, getting companies to part ways with money during a global pandemic is not nearly as simple as it should be. So, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.