The TV and film industry in Aotearoa are eyeing up the success of their counterparts in the news media, at becoming beneficiaries of the DataFarms that have eaten their revenue. The lack of ambition is depressing.
SPADA president Irene Gardiner told #MediaWatch the big US streaming platforms "are not regulated in any way" and don't pay tax. But instead of fixing that, they want a levy on them to provide production funding "via the three main funding agencies".
@strypey Canada already passed a law taxing the platforms and forcing them to feature "Canadian content" more...
I don't think more regulation on streaming platforms regarding cultural aspects is necessary. If anything, increasing consumer choices can promote diversity... But it's clear (at least in Canada's case) that governments are just pandering some sort of "acceptable" nationalism without actually helping with better domestic content.
@austin
> I don't think more regulation on streaming platforms regarding cultural aspects is necessary
Indeed, what's need is regulation and anti-trust enforcement to prevent them gaining and exploiting monopoly/ monopsony positions. Just like in the advertising industry, which would solve the problem of DataFarms soaking up all the revenue that used to fund journalism.
I'm going to do my bit by not giving any money to the big streaming companies, nor paying cinema ticket prices for any movie that gets tax breaks to film in Aotearoa. After all, the NZ public have already paid for our tickets to those many times over.
I'm also going to skip the endless sequels and reboots to old "franchise" movies. Instead, I'm going to save my pennies to go see independent movies at the cinema, particular those made in Aotearoa, and particularly homegrown ones.
@yoniden
> This has been my stance for the last decade
I'm proud to say I've never given a single dollar to corporate streaming service, and never will. But movies have been one of my few exceptions to a longstanding general boycott against corporations, in any market in which there is a replacement (no choice really in telecommunications in Aotearoa, for example).
@yoniden
I've been hooked on the MCU since Iron Man. I'm the kind of sucker that paid to see Star Wars movies, even after the miserable disappointment that was the prequel trilogy. I paid to see Avatar 2.
But I'm done with this shit. I want to see something new, and I understand that the entertainment industry is never going to fund it if people won't pay money to see it, and endless recycling of "franchises" still reliably makes money.
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