Netflix
After being disqualified from competing at Cannes, Netflix has opted out of showing any of its content at the prestigious film festival. A new rule was instituted this year that banned any movie from competing if they didn’t have a theatrical run, which means streaming content creators aren’t welcome to join. Last year, Netflix’s Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories competed at the festival and it had French cinema owners and unions up in arms. Thus, the establishment of the rule. It was reported Netflix offered to comply with the requirement of screening films in theatres but French law dictates that those filmed in cinemas can’t be made available on streaming services for three years thereafter.
And so, this year Netflix is skipping out on the festival. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, told Variety, “I don’t think there would be any reason to go out of competition. The rule was implicitly about Netflix, and Thierry made it explicitly about Netflix when he announced the rule.”