Netflix has drawn a line through Hollywood.
While many celebrated directors, including Martin Scorsese and the Coen Brothers, have worked with the platform on big-budget original movies, others are still resentful of the impact streaming has had on the film industry.
Christopher Nolan has been the most vocal critic, and now it’s Steven Spielberg’s turn to throw a few punches.
In a candid interview with ITV, the Ready Player One director said that critically-acclaimed Netflix movies shouldn’t be in contention for Oscar nominations.
“I don’t believe that films that are just given token qualifications, in a couple of theatres for less than a week, should qualify for the Academy Award nominations,” Spielberg said.
The 71-year-old director, who has won three Academy Awards, believes that the art of cinema is struggling against the confines of laptop screens.
“Fewer and fewer filmmakers are going to struggle to raise money, or to compete at Sundance and possibly get one of the specialty labels to release their films theatrically,” he continued. “And more of them are going to let the SVOD [Streaming Video On-Demand] businesses finance their films, maybe with the promise of a slight, one-week theatrical window to qualify for awards But, in fact, once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie.”
But he doesn’t think they should go away empty-handed: “They deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar.”
Netflix used short theatrical runs to qualify Mudbound and Okja for award consideration last year, which worked in the case of the former. Check out the interview below:
