Steven Spielberg criticises streaming providers for not being fair to filmmakers

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg recently attacked streaming services for how they treat creators, naming HBO Max in particular, which then released its whole 2021 slate in theatres and on the streamer.

According to Deadline, Spielberg suggested in an interview with the New York Times that shifting theatre releases to streaming services during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 may have caused irreparable changes in the film industry.

"The pandemic presented an opportunity for streaming companies to grow their memberships to record-breaking numbers while also throwing some of my best filmmaker friends under the bus as their films were abruptly denied theatre premieres," Spielberg added.

"They were paid off, and the films were immediately consigned to HBO Max, in this case." This is the case I'm referring to. "And then things began to shift," he continued, according to Deadline.

If theatres are permanently closed, the filmmaker laments the loss of a unique experience.

"I believe senior viewers were relieved not to have to step on sticky popcorn." But I truly believe that once those same older audiences entered the theatre, the magic of being in a social situation with a bunch of strangers was a tonic... "It's up to the movies to be good enough to get all of the audiences to say that to each other when the lights come back on," Spielberg said, according to Deadline.

(source : ANI)