Did you know that movies are being made MORE than ever before?

All thanks to Netflix who is the champion with the most movies produced in 2020 and that led to other studios ramping up production for their own direct-to-streaming platforms.

Watching a movie in the cinema used to be a one-time-off experience which cost almost the same as your subscription fee on streaming platforms for endless titles.

Consumers are benefiting from it but how is this affecting movie makers?

There are two types on how streamers acquire content.

A: They buy film and tv content rights (license) from already made films.

B: They produced originals with filmmakers/production houses.

In the past, through theatrical release, filmmakers could hit a jackpot (payout) from backend deals if the movie becomes a big hit. It is trackable from the box office sales.

From an independent filmmaking perspective, the risk has been minimise by the streamers with a generous upfront payout for exclusive online premiere under subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) clause.

It is still a win for indie filmmakers to get rewarded reasonably and given the opportunity to distribute their films to a bigger market. However, it is difficult to know if the film has been well-recieved through the kept data from the platforms.

Although there were some exceptions, such as “The Irishman” a $100 million production budget movie gets a limited theatrical released before it direct back to streaming on Netflix. It is because it’s Martin Scorsese and Netflix want it to be eligible for Oscar contention.

There are talks about quality of films may be affected because of the factory churning model.

Are we going back to old commissioning TV days where quantity matters more than quality?

I disagree and I think it is an exciting time for storytellers.

Filmmakers are still taking time to develop these passion projects where some studios do not dare to bet on.

Streamers have a bigger appetite with a healthier budget and most importantly offers more creative control for creators.

Filmmakers might also benefit from the creative freedom for final cut approval as there are lesser risk.

Most studios take risk measures by imposing what they think is best for the film. These could be seen as restrictions for the filmmakers.

(Some examples: Bong Joon Ho battles Harvey Weinstein on the movie “Snowpiercer” or Zack Synder & Jose Whedon fighting the demands from the studio for “Justice League”.)

Hence, maybe that could be the reason why streaming platforms are able to lure A-listers such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Zack Synder, Bong Joon Ho and more to create exclusive streaming content with them.

Food for thought: Based on the datas on audience critic rating, films produced by the studios rates better than the ones from Netflix.

Does the STUDIO or the FILMMAKER knows what the audience want?