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1, we assume it's good and we're more likely to watch it. Big Tech has infiltrated the film industry and they're applying formulaic algorithms to figure out what content gets acquired, and promoted to us. These are not the people who should be deciding what stories we get to hear. Big Tech execs seldom have any artistic experience. It's a worrying development because the corporate consolidation of the arts in the United States will fundamentally erode the quality of cultural output available to us. A Big Tech monopoly of the entertainment industry is bad news for all of us-from creators to performers to consumers. Amazon's buyout of MGM is just the most recent example of the takeover that is now fully underway. Netflix, for example, added more than 36 million new subscribers in 2020 to pass 200 million subscribers worldwide. Media Companies Need to Game the Future.It's Time to Recognize Americans of Middle Eastern Origin.The Oscars Need a New CategoryâSubtitle Writing.Today, original, independent filmmakers are caught between risk-averse Hollywood, and formulaic streaming services driven by Big Tech execs. Of course, you'll never have to wait very long for another Marvel installment. Many beloved classics, like All the President's Men, As Good as it Gets, Back to the Future, Pulp Fiction, Psycho and The Shawshank Redemption would never have been made had they landed on the desk of a current-day Hollywood exec. That results in lots of films that are dominated by superficial action sequences and surface-level characters and storytelling. Only projects with the broadest possible market appeal get the green light. It may spell career suicide-not only if it loses money, but even if it simply fails to make enough money. They live and die by mitigating risk and typically aren't willing to back anything with a question mark. Today's studio execs are businesspeople, not creatives. Hollywood was already very risk averse, avoiding mid-budget films made for grownups, and opting instead to go with big-budget would-be mega-blockbusters. It also encouraged shorter release windows, simultaneous streaming debuts and a general erosion of theater viewing.
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The pandemic also encouraged the streaming boom. fell from $42.3 billion in 2019 to just $12 billion in 2020. It's no secret that COVID-19 hit Hollywood hard. We will have to make sure that we actively seek out the independent stories and voices that we need to hear, now more than ever. We do need to keep them alive and we can't rely on Hollywood, Amazon, Apple or Netflix to do that for us.
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Movies are the memories of our lifetime, we need to keep them alive." He's right. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds. Legendary director Martin Scorsese once remarked that, "Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. After the latest Hollywood blockbuster fest, it's time to prioritize creativity and original storytelling once again. Streaming services are no better although they initially delivered diversified content, they're now run by Big Tech execs who understand data, not art. Once the bastion of creativity, artistic expression and story-telling, Hollywood has become little more than the money-spinner of a handful of risk-averse studios in decline.
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