On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, Variety’s Gene Maddaus discusses the opposition in the entertainment industry that has assembled to fight Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. and HBO. And Alex Ritman reports on the scene at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Maddaus, Variety‘s senior media writer, says the opposition to Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. is tied up in the economic squeeze that the creative community has felt in the post-pandemic era. Maddaus notes that the industry groups may not have the clout to derail the $82.7 billion transaction, but they can still have an impact by forcing discussion on issues of concern such as the merger’s impact on the job market and the creative rights of artists.
“It is a pretty broad community that’s opposed at this point. I do think they have an opportunity to influence the conversation,” Maddaus says. “This will be reviewed by the Department of Justice and by the FTC, but also by state attorney generals around the country. And the more noise you can kick up, the more opposition there is, the more political pressure is brought to bear on political leaders around the country, not just in the white House, but state attorney generals and that sort of thing. Potentially, they could create real headaches for Netflix on this.”
Alex Ritman, Variety’s U.K. bureau chief, discusses the changing landscape for media and the arts in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom pursues its aggressive efforts to modernize and become more prominent on the world stage. Ritman is in Jeddah this week to cover the Red Sea Film Festival, which has been a showcase for the country’s arts and media push. Ritman, who has covered the festival for the past four years, explains how the event has evolved.
“There’s this huge area called the Cultural Square and this vast cinema complex that’s been built there,” Ritman says. “It’s very much in tune with local Arabic style. The first two years I was here, everything was being held in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel — this exceptionally shiny and glitzy and slightly overbearing venue, but now it’s in its own purpose built location. There’s a huge auditorium for the main premieres, but also lots of other screens, and they’re having screenings throughout the day into the evening. There’s a huge area for the red carpets. This is what you can achieve when you have a lot of money at your disposal.”
The Red Sea Film Festival has made a point of championing female filmmakers. That stands in contrast to the historic restrictions on women in Saudi culture. There’s an undeniable tension there, but there’s also an energy as the country’s youthful population embraces the opening of movie theaters and the gradual easing of restrictions on what women can achieve.
“Let’s not forget cinemas only reopened here in like 2018. So what we’re seven years on from that. The change has been phenomenal,” Ritman says. “You could suggest that this is a very expensive culture washing event. And that’s an elephant in the room that you perhaps don’t ignore. But at the same time, there’s this huge creative scene here that has that previously was just under the surface, and now they’ve been given this huge platform to come into their own. Just last night we had the local premiere of this film, ‘Desert Warrior,’ which is the most expensive Saudi film ever made. That’s a real statement of intent.”
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