Apple and Netflix are upending the Hollywood hierarchy with huge studio deals

“Paramount and A24 agreeing to produce original films for the digital giants represents an about-face in the traditional pecking order and signals a major shift in the entertainment industry,” Rebecca Keegan writes for The Hollywood Reporter. “”
“In a Viacom earnings call on Nov. 16, Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos described a new, multipicture deal his studio had set — not with a producer or star, but with Netflix. At a time when competitors Disney and Warner Bros. are withholding their movies from Netflix to feed their own future streaming services, Paramount is trying another tactic: becoming a ready supplier in exchange for what Gianopulos called ‘an incremental revenue stream,'” Keegan writes. “A day earlier, A24, the 6-year-old independent-minded company behind such art-house hits as Lady Bird, Hereditary, Moonlight and Eighth Grade, signed its own deal to produce a slate of films for Apple.”
“Taken together, the deals represent a major shift in the industry: Movie studios are no longer making films just for themselves, but for the deep-pocketed technology companies that have become Hollywood’s latest conquistadors,” Keegan writes. “And it’s not hard to visualize a time soon when an iconic studio like Paramount becomes a mere supplier.”
“For Apple, which has already committed to spend $1  billion this year on content, A24 represents an asset that, at least theoretically, you can’t buy in the movie business: tast,” Keegan writes. “‘Apple is projecting an aesthetic by committing first to A24,’ says Jason Squire, author of The Movie Business Book and professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. ‘They’re making a statement that they are committed to these mid-range, independent movies.'”
Read more in the full article here.
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Apple inks deal with movie studio A24 to make feature-length films – November 15, 2018
Apple plans to launch TV streaming service first in the U.S., then swiftly expand globally with free original content – October 23, 2018
Apple plans to give away original content for free to device owners as part of new digital TV strategy – October 10, 2018