Netflix Responds To Spielberg's Attempt To Block It From Oscar Gold

Last week, one of the best filmmakers of our lifetime was revealed to be behind a plan to disrupt Netflix’s Oscar dreams and film fans were (largely) pissed. People love Steven Spielberg. That is far from debatable. However, when Spielberg attempts to be the arbiter of which films should and should not qualify for Oscars, that’s when film fans begin to turn on the legend. And that’s exactly what happened last week, after it was revealed that the filmmaker is perhaps going to attempt to prevent Netflix from competing for Oscars in the future. It wasn’t just fans who were upset, either. The streaming service at the heart of all this has finally spoken up and defended itself.

The main issue here is Spielberg’s insistence that any film that is available on a streaming service is the equivalent of a “TV movie” because it doesn’t have a large theatrical run. Breaking it down even further, the filmmaker is concerned that the rise of streaming services means that the theatrical experience is dying. And even though we’ve seen reports that paint a very different picture, this is the purveying theory and the one that scares Spielberg.

So, it was revealed that the filmmaker has plans to attend an upcoming Academy meeting where he will propose that something changes that would prevent Netflix from earning Oscar nominations. What his proposal actually entails is still a mystery, but we’ve discussed possibilities previously.

Now, Netflix has spoken up and defended itself against the idea that the streaming service is somehow “less than” the traditional studios because of the way it allows film fans to stream films from whatever device they own.

“We love cinema,” the streaming service tweeted, using a term that echoes Spielberg’s concerns about the theatrical experience being tainted by streamers.

Netflix continued by offering a list of things it also loves, including access to films for people that can’t afford to go to the cinema, or aren’t near one. The company also mentions its desire to allow everyone around the world the ability to watch a film at the same time, versus waiting for a distributor to release the film in every country, and also the fact that Netflix gives filmmakers more of a chance to share art.

“These things are not mutually exclusive,” the statement concludes.

At this point, there’s no real concrete issue being discussed. All we know is that Spielberg isn’t pleased with Netflix and Netflix is still, clearly, fighting for legitimacy. Oh yeah, and we also know that Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment was one of the production companies behind Oscar winner “Green Book,” which competed against Netflix’s “Roma” for Best Picture. Is that a coincidence? We’ll let you decide.

At this point, we’ll just have to wait until April and see what the filmmaker has up his sleeve.

We love cinema. Here are some things we also love:

-Access for people who can't always afford, or live in towns without, theaters
-Letting everyone, everywhere enjoy releases at the same time
-Giving filmmakers more ways to share art

These things are not mutually exclusive.

— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) March 4, 2019