Recently, legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg has spoken out against Netflix, shunning the prospect of its films getting nominated for Academy Awards after Netflix’s “Roma” took home three awards at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Director and Foreign Language Film. However, Spielberg said he is not going to propose that Netflix films should be banned at the annual post-Oscars meeting. Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks, said, “I talked to Steven about this yesterday. I asked him very specifically — I don’t have any skin in this game anymore — he said, ‘I absolutely did not say that.’” 

Regardless, it is true that Spielberg does feel very strongly about the theater-going experience as opposed to watching films on a small screen. If he does not propose any changes, then fine, Netflix will stay the way it is and potentially become a big platform for future Oscar campaigns. However, we do have to discuss why Netflix gets to play by different rules from traditional theatrical releases. A film must be played in a commercial theater in Los Angeles county for at least a few days between the beginning and end of the year. 

There should be at least a 90-day window between theatrical and home-video release for the film to qualify. So why does Netflix get away with showing a film for a few days and then releasing it on its platform soon after? It, honestly, does not matter. It is exciting that films have become more accessible for wider audiences that perhaps do not live near a local theater. Cineastes can see arthouse films like “Roma” without having to venture out to see it. 

But since Netflix is a streaming platform, should its films not be nominated for Emmys? The answer here is no since there is a clear cinematic element to the way films are made and the fact these films would not be distributed otherwise. Whatever happens, hopefully that Netflix will stay on the Academy’s map for years to come.

Photo from David Mark via Pixabay