MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.
Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1464866
couldn’t land a real movie job and had to stoop so low.” First … they are movies! Second, they all – Disney+, Warner/HBO Max, Apple TV+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount +, Peacock, BBC, Sky, iQiyi, Tencent and hundreds of local, regional and global wanna bes – need a steady stream of new, interesting, original content to entice new viewers to their increasingly pricey services. That unquenchable need for more content means more work for Academy and guild/union members, so celebrate them! Apple’s key difference – and yes, Amazon’s and Netflix’s– is that they have a target audience that is predisposed to hearing their pitch. And based on their customers constant flow of data to the company studios, they have a pretty good idea of what they want to watch. With a value of $3T and vaults full of idle cash, they have the luxury of building out another “special” segment of the Apple ecosystem. Yes, churn (signing in/out of a service) is a concern for Apple TV + and all streaming services. The longer a service retains a subscriber, the more profitable that individual/family is to the company and Apple’s churn has been “a little” high in the early stages – about 10.4 percent, according to Antenna. But the company’s deep pockets, profound understanding of its global customers, commitment to classy (and expensive) products that are wrapped in customer privacy means it has plenty of headroom to build a modest customer entertainment library that will grow … and grow … and … And a Best Picture Oscar certainly helps that growth. Despite the low numbers for their annual TV show, the Academy, guilds, unions and creative individuals around the globe have an increased opportunity to work in and celebrate movies no matter where they are shown. Movie houses are struggling to see how they fit in the consumers’ entertainment line-up now that their target audience (18-49) has options. Pay TV has lost audience share except for the older crowd; and even they are discovering that anytime, any screen, anywhere viewing is darn neat. Studios and A Listers everywhere know that to have an audience for their movies, they have to go where the viewer is viewing. And frankly, the viewer doesn’t see, realize or care if what they’re watching is a movie movie, a TV movie or a project they picked from one of their services. It’s their movie to watch and determine if it was great, good, bad or a total waste of time. When judging movies, we have to remember what Nicolas Cage said in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, “That’s one of those questions that’s impossible to answer.” We also hope viewers follow the advice he gave, “You can’t just limit it to one.” And with the excitement and follow-up buzz from this year’s Oscars event, the TV show may have even higher ratings next year. People love controversy!