Spielberg signs major streaming cope with Netflix
23 June, 2021
Steven Spielberg will produce multiple new films for Netflix every year, the company said Monday, in a significant deal that highlights how fully Hollywood has embraced streaming platforms.
The partnership with arguably Tinseltown's top director is a coup for Netflix at the same time when competition with streaming rivals including Disney+ and HBO Max is warming up.
In addition, it follows reports that Spielberg have been skeptical about streaming in recent years, and had even moved to bar Netflix films from Oscars eligibility -- claims that the legendary Jaws and Schindler's List director has since dismissed as false.
In a joint statement about the Netflix deal, Spielberg praised "this new avenue for our films" as an "amazing chance to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways."
Spielberg also praised his close relationship with Netflix co-CEO and content chief Ted Sarandos, a former industry outsider who has increased to become one of Hollywood's top power brokers.
"We cannot wait to access use the Amblin team and we are honored and thrilled to participate this chapter of Steven's cinematic history," said Sarandos.
Spielberg's Amblin Partners will continue to make content for Universal, among Tinseltown's oldest major studios, while his upcoming West Side Story will be released by Disney-owned 20 Century Studios.
Monday's announcement will not specify whether Spielberg, who recently has produced a lot more films than he has directed, will personally direct the Netflix movies.
However the deal comes as the industry pivots from a model that insisted on lengthy, exclusive "windows" for cinema releases, to one in which major films often appear on streaming platforms simultaneously or soon once they hit the silver screen -- or even skip theaters altogether.
That move has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Another production by Spielberg's Amblin, The Trial of the Chicago 7, was designed for theatrical release by Paramount but finished up on Netflix this past year while thousands of concert halls were closed.
Monday's deal also didn't say whether Spielberg's films for Netflix would also appear on the silver screen first.
Other top directors who've recently joined forces with Netflix include Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods) and David Fincher (Mank).
In addition to West Side Story -- which arrives in theaters in December after being delayed by the pandemic -- Spielberg, 74, is currently developing a semi-autobiographical film about his childhood in the southwestern state of Arizona.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com