THE STREAM: HOW WE GOT HERE & WHERE WE’RE GOING
As a cinephile who is fascinated with the history of the film medium and its evolution, I believe the impact the Covid pandemic has had on film history is monumental. Just as monumental as the talkie’s declaring the end of the silent film era. Before we dive in let’s see how we got to this point. From the time the first moving image was ever captured, up until roughly 2005, the cinema ruled the world. Sure people would rent movies (the actual physical copy… I know what you’re thinking… WHOA) and watch sitcom’s or other TV dramas and of course we had our beloved reruns. But films remained above it all. The small screen was where films were sent to pasture or where they were sent right before being discarded from our fickle memory. Then in 2005, the year Youtube came kicking and screaming into the world, a quiet storm began to brew. The big, glorious, silver screen that could never do wrong, was playing a serious game of tug and war with the internet and its “streaming” content. It seemed to be an evenly matched fight… for about a year.
Streamers at war...
Oh the good ole days, when movie theaters reigned supreme.
Then Netflix (already ahead of the pack, when it came to monetizing the internet) decided they wanted a taste and the revolution truly started. Netflix and their explosive rise, right along with the spread of other streaming services, joined forces with smart TV’s and dropkicked the wind out of the movie theaters. While most cinephiles, I among them, worship the movie theater, how could we pass up renting, downloading or digitally owning most movies regardless of release date. At anytime we please. Theaters recovered a bit. They had to take a long look in the mirror. Even the 🐐 Steven Spielberg, took exception to streamers (or Netflix in this case) marching into Academy Award territory. A place usually reserved for real filmmakers and their humble Multiplex owner friends. Nonetheless they said ok. We’ll coexist. No matter how big streaming gets, people will still want to get out of their houses and experience these films as a community… Then out of the respectable city of Wuhan, the Covid-19 virus emerged like a wrecking ball. We all have our own horrible, eye opening experiences regarding Covid and the disaster it wrought. Cinephiles had to face the facts that our temples, our refuge and sanctuaries; the movie theater’s had to close shop. Well, if the streaming industry was looking for the knockout blow, they found it.
The moment no one was waiting for.
Movie theaters had agreed to co-exist with the streamers… pre-Covid. It’s at a point now where they have to bend over backward just to retain their seat at the table of the omnipotent, Hollywood content-creating, arriviste. Players with cookie-cutter names, like Reed, Jason, Bob, Kelly, and Jeff… AKA the CEOs of Netflix, WarnerMedia (HBOMax), Disney, Hulu, and Amazon Prime…No Big Deal. Except these people are kind of a big deal (Hello San Diego!) Streaming and its meteoric rise has lead many in the streaming industry to diversify, becoming leaders of content production. Nowadays it seems as though churning out films/shows represents a generous portion of their already rather large pie. They are now setting the terms. Sure movie theater chains might still have leverage, their services are still in demand. However which films will be shown in these multiplexes? How long they will screen? In the not-so-distant future, streaming companies may take the place of traditional film studios/distributors, and be the ones who call those shots. Leading the way, and shaping the history of the moving image. Quite possibly the most influential art form of all time. What a frightening thought.
