Orion Pictures/Samuel Goldwyn Films With documentaries no longer accepted for direct submission on the world’s largest website, that’s expected to immediately impact acquisitions across the board. “Of course it’s going to negatively affect the deals,” said one sales agent whose business focuses on both documentaries and narrative features. “If I’m thinking optimistically, I could imagine a part-two of this, perhaps a more curated approach where documentaries that have a certain standard of production value are welcomed back into the fold.”
Whatever the impetus for the new policy might be, for now it’s a black box. That only trebles the negative impact: It’s impossible to counter a market force if you don’t know what it is. “We would prefer this were not to happen,” said Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber. “We will see some erosion. We think we’re going to be able to make up some of it with our Kino Now TVOD platform. Part of the reason we launched it a year ago was in anticipation of the need for us to control our own destiny in the TVOD space.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
