Steven Spielberg says movies released by streaming services like Netflix and Amazon could 'deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar'

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Steven Spielberg.

• Steven Spielberg said in an interview with ITV News that movies released by streaming services like Netflix and Amazon should not qualify for the Academy Awards. 
• Spielberg called streaming services "a clear and present danger to filmgoers," and said that a film released by such companies should be considered a "TV movie" that could "deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar."

Steven Spielberg said in a recent interview with ITV News that movies released by streaming services like Netflix and Amazon should not qualify for Oscars.

The "Ready Player One" director called the rise of streaming services "a clear and present danger to filmgoers," while lamenting that smaller films are now largely bought by such companies. 

"Fewer and fewer filmmakers are going to struggle to raise money, or to compete at Sundance and possibly get one of the specialty labels to release their films theatrically," Spielberg said. "And more of them are going to let the SVOD [Streaming Video On-Demand] businesses finance their films, maybe with the promise of a slight, one-week theatrical window to qualify for awards."

"But, in fact, once you commit to a television format, you're a TV movie," Spielberg continued. He added that films released on streaming services could "deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar."

"I don't believe that films that are just given token qualifications, in a couple of theaters for less than a week, should qualify for the Academy Award nominations," he said.

Spielberg's critical stance on streaming services follows that of a fellow high-profile director in Christopher Nolan, who last year spoke against the theatrical strategy of Netflix.

Nolan called out Netflix's "mindless policy" of releasing films simultaneously on its streaming service and in theaters, though he also praised Amazon's 90-day theatrical window as "a perfectly usable model." Spielberg made no such distinction between Netflix and Amazon in his interview.

Watch Spielberg's interview below: