Netflix and Amazon Studios are the dominant forces changing the game in the movie industry (sorry, Hulu, Crackle, and everyone else — you’ve still got a way to go). The prime disrupter, Netflix, recently spent $60 million on two Chris Rock comedy specials, and Kim Masters at The Hollywood Reporter recently speculated that the shows and specials that Jerry Seinfeld brought to the streaming service earned the comedian somewhere in the ballpark of $100 million. With some 90 million subscribers and counting, Netflix is overflowing with money and as outsiders who have dislocated the industry, they’ve been considered a threat by Hollywood.
Netflix dropped a ton of money into the Oscar campaign for Cary Fukunaga’s “Beasts Of No Nation,” a movie that they bought for $12 million at Cannes in 2015, and which was supposed to be their first major Oscar play. The Academy’s response? Zilch. Netflix was totally shut out, and the company walked away from the Oscar nominations last year empty-handed. And while that changed this year with Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” which scored a Best Documentary Feature nomination, overall, Netflix doesn’t have much experience in this field. And being run by industry outsiders, it’s easy to understand why the Academy has largely rejected the streaming service, and easy to see why Netflix has largely pivoted from making big prestige plays lately.
However, their rivals at Amazon Studios, who play by more familiar rules (including guaranteeing a theatrical release for the titles they acquire and produce), broke through in a big way this year, earning six nods for “Manchester By The Sea,” including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor — the first streaming service to accomplish the feat.
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This is a huge validation for Amazon and demonstrates that they are an undeniable player in the field now. And what has likely made a big difference is that Amazon’s team is packed with insiders. Head Of Production Ted Hope is a mainstay in the industry and has worked in nearly every aspect of the indie film world as a producer, founding CEO of the cinephile streaming service Fandor, executive director at of the San Francisco Film Society and more. As a well-respected tastemaker who knows this landscape better than Netflix, Hope has helped create a much different narrative for Amazon that sets them apart from their competition. Additionally, Scott Foundas, who works in development and acquisitions for Amazon, is a former Variety critic, New York Film Festival curator and Film Society Of Lincoln Center cohort, and the multi-hyphenate is well respected among the industry for his taste and sharp opinions.
And after the failure of “Beasts Of No Nation,” Netflix doubled down on programming far and wide to the mainstream — see all their deals with Adam Sandler and the like. Amazon, however, is fulfilling a niche market that the Academy doesn’t want to go extinct. As the film industry has changed, focusing on blockbusters and not leaving a lot of money for indies, the mid-budget movie (think “Michael Clayton,” which cost around $25 million at the time and would probably be made for $5-8 million now) has been dying out. Indie movies have become micro-budget, and mid-budget Oscar prestige pictures aren’t as prevalent as they once were, at least not coming from the major studios. So Amazon has gone in with the cineaste approach. Filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch, James Gray and Terry Gilliam can’t get films made? Take ’em to Amazon and the filmmakers are given a nurturing home to ideate. While not as flush with cash as Netflix, Amazon still has deep pockets and has lured in many respected A-list directors for both TV and cinema. And as tastemakers, they have a keen eye for finding all sorts of indies with appeal to different subsections of the market.
While it was an acquisition title, Amazon Studios went all in for beloved auteur Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester By The Sea” (forking out $10 million), which created splashy noise at the Sundance Film Festival last year. While many Sundance films peak during the festival or shortly thereafter, steadily but surely, Amazon fostered the picture, took it to many major festivals and let its power and buzz quietly resonate.
A huge validation of Amazon, their cinephile-driven method and Kenneth Lonergan — a filmmaker who seemed ripe for movie jail after his six-year battle with Fox Searchlight and the producers of “Margaret” — ‘Manchester’ killed in this year’s Oscar crop, scoring nods in pretty much every significant category: Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Screenplay (though being snubbed in the Editing category, which usually goes hand in hand with Best Picture, is a head-scratcher).
As an aside, not even the ugly and disturbing Casey Affleck troubles in his personal life could derail his awards-season mettle. The actor was accused of sexually harassing the producer and cinematographer of his gonzo film, “I’m Not Here,” a case that was settled out of court. It led many to rightfully complain about the double standard which nixed accused-rapist Nate Parker and “The Birth Of A Nation” out of the running early on. It brings up complicated issues of race, the severity of crimes and how they are judged, and more. It’s too complex to tackle here, but it is worth mentioning how these unsettling allegations couldn’t upset Affleck and the movie’s momentum.
Back to Amazon’s narrative. ‘Manchester’ received another boost from Matt Damon, who produced the film, was a tireless champion of the project, and reminded everyone who was listening that he was so invested in the movie and Kenneth Lonergan that he stayed involved, even after scheduling conflicts knocked him out of his initial plans to direct and star.
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Meanwhile, further proof of Amazon’s ascension lies in the numbers: Amazon Studios netted the fourth biggest number of nominees, tying Disney (!), and coming behind Lionsgate (which includes CBS Films) with 26 nominations (“Hell Or High Water“), Paramount with 18 nods (“Arrival,” “Fences,” “Silence,” etc.) and A24 with 10 (“Moonlight,” “20th Century Women”).
Lastly, Amazon Studios should (and will) share some of the glory with their theatrical pals, Roadside Attractions, who put the movie in theaters and surely helped with the film’s roll-out strategy. There’s an argument to be made that with a lesser theatrical distributor, ‘Manchester’ may not have connected as well.
While we’re here, a similar tastemaking indie studio, A24, received a major endorsement for their approach, style and schema too. While the trailblazing studio scored seven Oscar nominations last year (for “Room,” “Ex Machina” and “Amy”), 2016 was their year their homegrown projects paid off in a big way. The aforementioned films were all acquisition titles, while “Moonlight” was the first project A24 shepherded in from stem to stern; a massive endorsement from the Academy, and you’ll likely only see the studio focus harder on original content.
Now, will Amazon win anything this year? It’s too early to tell, but Affleck could best Denzel Washington, Lonergan’s got a good shot at Best Original Screenplay, and all of its nominees are major threats. We’ll just have to wait and see, but re-welcome Amazon Studios to the stage, because they have just proven they are here to stay.