Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has addressed the Cannes Film Festival controversy, admitting that "sometimes we make mistakes".
Last month, Netflix officially pulled out of Cannes following the reinforcement of a rule that bans films without theatrical distribution in France from competing.
It followed a whole load of beef last year when two of its movies – Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories – were nearly pulled from the competition.
In a keynote speech at Series Mania in France, Hastings has now explained (via THR): "At times we have a reputation as a disruptor, and sometimes we make mistakes.
"I think we got into a more difficult situation with the Cannes Film Festival than we meant to because, you know, we're not trying to disrupt the movie system; we are trying to make our members happy. We make our content for them."
He went on to suggest that Netflix won't try to compete or screen at Cannes, and will now "mostly focus on series and standup, docu-series and great content we can do without disrupting or being perceived to disrupt the movie sector".
"We love the film festival, and we still have buyers going," he added. "The festival is very sincere in trying to find a model that works for them and works for us. I'm sure over time we'll definitely [go back]."
"That's the main issue for us. We are trying to treat our movies as series and release them directly to our members and not trying to compete with the theatrical system," Hastings said.
