Ted Sarandos, the head of Netflix, wonders if the threatened cinema industry might harbour some kind of bias against his company. Hmmm.
Netflix loves statistics. The company thrives on numbers, using its endless reams of data to commission projects, axe projects, determine payouts and see into the future. Okay, maybe not the last one.
But for a company so adept at reading the digital tea leaves that it has rocketed from humble beginnings as a mail-out DVD service to become bigger than any of its famous old rivals, CEO Ted Sandaros seems to be having a little trouble deciphering a rather simple data set.
Netflix has picked up more awards recognition at the Oscars each year for the last three years, and yet still, that top prize of Best Picture eludes the company. Even in the years when it seemed like a shoo-in, such as when Roma or The Power Of The Dog were clear favourites to win.
They didn’t though, and that’s maybe because the Hollywood community remains wary of the disruptive force that is Netflix. The company is the only major streamer yet to experiment properly with theatrical releases. As the biggest player by far, its anti-cinema stance has the community that relies heavily on the theatrical industry clearly keen not to reward Netflix for refusing to support the wider theatrical ecosystem.
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“It’s hard for me to say, ‘Do they have it out for us?’ When we’ve been the most-nominated studio for the past three years,” Sarandos told Variety recently. “There’s something about [the Academy] – you nominate the movies that you respect and admire, and you vote for best picture for the movie that you love. We have to make a movie that people love.“
Yes you do, but Netflix’s refusal to put films up on cinema screens – an experience people love – is also surely part of the problem. The company has put out plenty of awards contenders over the years, including Roma, The Irishman, Mank, Trial Of The Chicago 7, The Power Of The Dog, All Quiet On The Western Front and Emilia Perez. However, none have won the Best Picture award. It’s not as if a streaming film hasn’t picked up the top prize: just look at Apple TV+’s Coda.
This year will see Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein lead the charge of the latest collection of esteemed filmmakers working on the small screen. unless the company elects to loosen its no-cinema policy to include films beyond Greta Gerwig’s planned Narnia films, which will be getting an IMAX run for two weeks.
Unless Mr Sarandos is willing to embrace cinemas, we’d suggest that the space on his shelf for a Best Picture Oscar might be empty for some time to come, even as the Hollywood community rewards other streamers. Netflix, meanwhile, continues to be the very face of Hollywood’s fears.
