Netflix is heading to the theaters. In search of a second act, a course correction if you will, it seems inevitable that the largest producer of filmed entertainment in the history of the known universe will dip more than their toes into the theatrical market.
Our Entertainment Strategy Guy laid out the reasons why this path is all but foreordained last week. But foremost among the reasons: another revenue stream and the impact of a theatrical marketing campaign upon the scope and reach of their titles.
For The Service, as it gropes for a reversal of recent fortunes, going off the platform into theatricals is a major turnabout, almost mea culpa level. But you know what — after four years of pointing out the flaws in the Netflix strategy, I’m in a mood to be forgiving — now that the entire industry has jumped so fully into pointing fingers at their flaws you’d think there’s only cobwebs left under a pile of manure.
When you’ve achieved what Netflix has — creating not only the dominant service but the entire dominant sector out of nothing in half a decade, while the rest of the industry sat and watched, mouths agape, and then rushed to throw their entire business models down the sewer chasing them; when you’ve done all that, you can afford a few “Ooops we got that wrong”s now and then.
Now granted, my lackadaisicalness is based on the company seeing these things clearly and tacking the ship hard due north and doing it soon; and there’s every chance they won’t be able to overcome their own mythos/arrogance/certitude and do that. In which case, I persist in my belief that basic survival is not guaranteed.
But for the sake of this piece, let us presume that good sense will prevail. In which case, for a company as impactful as The Service has been, admitting they have to change some things is a pretty minor sin in the general evilsphere of this industry.
But more to the point, the schadenfreude orgy, as delightful as it can be, carries with it the subtext that if Netflix was so wrong, everyone else was right. And that’s frankly where I pack up my cabin and look to disembark from the S.S. Gravedancer.
Although Netflix may well, tail between its legs, head to the multiplexes, there’s this implication that, Well, now they’ll see why they have to be exactly like a Hollywood studio, and they’ll come to their senses and start making movies just like ours and distributing them just like we do.
That I think, misses the point of the story of the past decade. By a lot.
While the theatrical release may be alive and well with lots of potential to make money and unleash a cultural impact that is still not to be written off, there is nonetheless, still plenty wrong with our movie business. And just because Netflix has made some mistakes doesn’t mean those issues disappear.
But even more, as Netflix dives into the theatrical game (if it dives into the theatrical game) it brings with it the heft and resources to not just replicate the mistakes and problems of the studios; they are positioned to actually address and take on some of those problems.
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