That’s according to a rep from Spielberg’s production company Amblin, who told IndieWire that the director intends to petition the Academy to exclude movies from Netflix and other TV services from nomination in future, citing “the difference between the streaming and theatrical situation”. Whatever that means.
Netflix’s semi-autobiographic drama Roma won the coveted gold bald guys for Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Cinematography, and the, uh, awkward-but-necessary menstruation feature Period. End of Sentence won for Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards show, while Spielberg’s Ready Player One didn’t even win in its one nominated category. That must be hard.
In response, Netflix has issued its own reminder that movies are movies, and grampy Spielberg should shut up. More or less.
We love cinema. Here are some things we also love:
-Access for people who can’t always afford, or live in towns without, theaters
-Letting everyone, everywhere enjoy releases at the same time
-Giving filmmakers more ways to share artThese things are not mutually exclusive.
— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) March 4, 2019