“A new world of cinema is opening up with which we will have to come to terms”, analysis Pascal Lechevallier, specialist in dematerialization and the media, president and founder of the consulting agency What’s Hot Media, Wednesday December 1 on franceinfo while the new film by Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog, is released direct on Netflix, in 90 countries, and will only be released in theaters in a few countries.
franceinfo: Do filmmakers prefer online platforms to cinemas now?
Pascal Lechevallier: Netflix has become a major player in production with an annual budget for 2021 which reaches 17 billion dollars and therefore inevitably the great directors give in to the sirens of Netflix who give them the possibility, as Jane Campion says, of distributing her film on D-day. in 90 countries. As she says, a new world of cinema is opening up that we will have to deal with. It is a logical evolution of the market.
“Streaming makes it possible to distribute films worldwide on D-Day with very significant financial resources.”
Pascal Lechevallier, specialist in dematerialization and mediato franceinfo
The old-fashioned production companies have working methods that mostly go through the hall, especially the big studios, whether American, European or French. There is therefore an arbitration which takes place, for the directors, when they present the projects. Today, the big players in streaming have considerable resources, often disproportionate and much more important than traditional production companies and therefore directors are leaning towards streamers. Scorsese, Spielberg today work with streamers. The films today are divided between the traditional and the new ones which make cringe in some cases, because the film of Jane Campion, with very wide plans, cannot be seen in theaters, at least not in France. .
Scarlett Johansson sued Disney because the movie Black widow in which she played was released directly on the Disney + platform, while she was to earn interest on theatrical releases. So sometimes it happens behind the backs of those first concerned?
If we take over the case Black widow, let’s say that Disney may have confused, in the midst of a pandemic, speed and haste, by not looking at the contracts well. Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit that ultimately ended well since there was a joint statement between Scarlett Johansson and Disney to say that everything had worked out – in millions of dollars obviously. She claimed not to be paid on the streaming operation when she had obviously bet on revenue and a percentage of revenue that she did not have since the film was not released in theaters. Warner did it too and made deals with the actors that cost him a few hundred million dollars. Today, all market players, whether directors or actors, manage to combine the two. In France, we have a very interesting example, which is Omar Sy. He has just signed a delegated production agreement with Netflix, which will not prevent him from also working with French directors on the French way of working and financing which preserves the cultural exception.
Will this trend increase in France?
Sure. There is a decree which was published on June 22, 2021 which will oblige audiovisual media services to respect production quotas when they work in France. These quotas are quite high, with obligations, and that will force and lead all American operators to have a minimum threshold of French and European offers, so it will encourage them to produce locally as they have started to do. This movement will accelerate over time and will therefore benefit the economy of local production even if the American rules do not quite correspond. I refer to the forum of the French Society of Directors which appeared in Le Monde on Tuesday and which considers that the platforms’ remuneration methods do not correspond to what French authors, screenwriters and directors are used to doing in the region. . But these actors are there. Today, it will be difficult to do without them. We will have to adapt.