Netflix Research Paper

Netflix, the extremely popular streaming service, has signed a deal with iPic Entertainment, a relatively small luxury theater chain. The agreement states that ten Netflix Original Movies will show at fifteen locations, including Los Angeles and New York City. One major reason why this deal emerged was so that upcoming films such as The Siege of Jadotville, Bright, War Machine, and First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers will be eligible for next year’s Academy Awards. For a film to be up for a nomination, it must be playing at qualifying theaters for seven consecutive days, have multiple daily showings, and the theaters must “regularly show new releases.” With this contract, Netflix’s products will meet these credentials, and will allow the service to do to the Oscars what they have done with the Emmy Awards in recent years.

Over this past summer, iPic showed the Netflix Original Movie, The Little Prince (which you can read about in one of my previous articles). Other theater chains, i.e. AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment, rejected offers from the streaming service to show their products at their venues. They felt that day-and-date releases would be detrimental to their bottom line, as moviegoers would be more likely to stay at home and watch them for free, rather than go to a theater and pay for tickets. On the other hand, iPic Entertainment, being a smaller chain, does not have to worry about losing out to bigger competition. Aside from that, the chain also has amenities that customers cannot get at home or in other theaters, including dine-in food and beverage services. The situation can turn out to be a win-win for Netflix and iPic. The former will be able to stake their claim to the Academy Awards, while the latter can make some profit off of the Netflix