For years, industry chatter has revolved around the work of traditional Hollywood “studios” and disruptive “streamers” changing the paradigms of production and distribution across the business. But these days, the streamers are buying their way into the studio game more than ever. A decade after Amazon launched its original movies division with a focus on arthouse films and Oscar campaigns, the e-commerce giant has started doubling down on commercial fare, as its historic $8.45 billion deal for the MGM library this past week proved. That acquisition puts the tech giant in charge of James Bond and countless other valuable properties as it looks ahead to an ambitious future. Meanwhile, Netflix has bought its way into the blockbuster game on its own terms, with films like Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” pointing to grand ambitions well beyond the prestige factor of its awards-friendly content.
In this week’s episode of Screen Talk, Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson discuss these developments and what they might portend for the future of film production. They also touch on the recent news that the Academy is scaling back its membership and preview the Cannes Film Festival lineup ahead of next week’s announcement.
Watch the full episode above or listen to it below.
Screen Talk is produced by Leonardo Adrian Garcia and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. You can subscribe here or via RSS. Share your feedback with Thompson and Kohn on Twitter. Browse previous installments here, review the show on Apple Podcasts, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk. Check out the rest of IndieWire’s podcasts on Apple Podcasts right here.
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