Beni Atoori, a 25-year veteran director, producer and writer in the film industry, has been known for such films as “Tis a Gift to Be Simple” and “The Last Movie Star.” He has won numerous international film-making awards. Atoori has some interesting predictions about current trends in the film industry for the current year and beyond.
Aggregation of Streaming Content
As people are moving away from pay TV, they have embraced streaming service subscriptions. According to Deloitte, 70 percent of people who still have pay TV service are unhappy and believe the content is not worth the money they pay. 55 percent of households now have streaming video subscriptions. People have found that just one provider does not meet their needs for interesting content, so many households have multiple streaming subscriptions.
According to Atoori, for this reason, streaming video providers are beginning to look to aggregate the content they are providing in order to gain a larger subscription base. Also, pay TV providers, like Comcast are adding more streaming content to their line-ups in order to keep their customer base satisfied. This will help increasingly dissatisfied consumers from having to choose between cable and streaming options.
More Original Content Will Be Produced by Streaming and Social Media Services
According to Deloitte, when Disney pulled its content from Netflix because it is going to launch a new streaming video service of its own this year, Netflix and other streaming providers, like Amazon, began to invest in more of their own, original content. Amazon is focusing upon productions that have a large budget as well as gaining rights to more sports content.
Also, YouTube and other social media platforms have invested more heavily in their own content as well. According to Atoori, this is a natural development, since many people are watching short content on their cell phones and tablets already.
Another big player ready to begin to flex its muscles in the industry, according to Business Insider, is Apple. They have teamed up with independent producer A24, well known for the movie “Moonlight.” It is unclear which direction Apple will take with its foray into film, but one cannot doubt it will be significant and will have a powerful impact upon the industry.
Atoori suggests that this trend is good for the film industry because it provides a lot more opportunity for filmmakers. Also, according to Atoori, the next few years will show if there are larger winners and losers in the race to produce more original content.
More Studios Will Merge
In 2018, the largest merger news in the industry was the acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney. According to Business Insider, Sony and Paramount studios are both likely acquisitions for studios who want to join forces. According to Atoori, this highlights the importance of major studios teaming up to enhance their content and their distribution networks for their content.
Subscription Movie Services
Even though MoviePass, the movie subscription service, may fail, it did demonstrate to theater owners that there is a desire for movie subscription services. According to Business Insider, AMC, Sinemia, and Cinemark all have movie ticket subscription plans. AMC is very pleased with theirs because it has exceeded expectations. Other theater chains are expected to follow suit and offer a movie subscription service.
Theater Window Timing
According to Atoori, there has been a window that was being honored by the subscription services that they would wait for 90 days after the first release in theaters of a movie before it was available on their streaming services. There have been a few events that may change this window. According to Business Insider, Landmark Theaters was purchased by an independent film producer. Since independent films do not have as long a run as releases from major studios, it is likely that this release window will become shorter over time.
More Adoption of Virtual Reality Technology
According to Production Hub, there will be more of a move to integrate virtual reality in unique ways. They reported about a move by NBA League Pass to team up with a virtual reality provider and create content that makes the viewer feel as though they are right in the arena watching an NBA game. Since the virtual reality provider is an industry leader, it is likely that more sports leagues will begin to adopt VR technology as well. Virtual reality is predicted to explode into a $29.5 billion industry on the global stage by 2020.
Thus, Beni Atoori suggests that we can look forward to much more original film production from both streaming services and social media, more film choices provided by streaming services, more virtual reality and more merging of theaters. All of these developments bode well for film viewers and the film industry, providing more choices for the former and many more work opportunities for the latter. The film industry is alive and well in 2019 with robust, new sectors.
