iWorld
Netflix to boycott Cannes Film Festival 2018?
CANNES: Netflix is known to do things differently. While almost everyone trips over every hurdle to get into the Cannes Film Festival, the world’s largest streamer is mulling over giving it a miss this year.
The reason: festival director Thierry Fremaux’s announcement last month that he would not open the doors to any producer to enter the Cannes official competition selection if the film does not have a theatrical release in France. It had enforced the stricter regulations in 2017 and Fremaux reaffirmed that the regulations would stay last month.
And that seems to have got the Netflix management, led by Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, agitated as one of the world’s largest creators of content releases most of its films on its over the top (OTT) platform for consumption by its 117 million paid users.
The film festival’s team, however, has allowed studios, without a French release for a film, to submit it for screening but not take part in the Palm D’Or competition.
French law forbids films released theatrically in France to be shown online until a three-year window since the first exhibition is crossed; which does not make for a good business model for Hastings, as subscribers pay anywhere between $9 and $14 for a Netflix subscription, depending on whether pricing plan is basic or premium. And the streaming service is not about to change its biz model for the festival. Last year the Cannes Film Festival competition jury president Pedro Almodovar had raised a stink that having a film win the Palm D’Or without a theatrical release was unthinkable. French theatrical exhibitors have been fuming that Netflix films are not being released in their cinemas, thus cutting them out of potential revenues.
Hastings and Sarandos were not available for comment at the time of writing. But Reed unequivocally had stated at the time when the rules were announced last year by the festival that the “establishment” was “closing ranks” on his company.
Also Read :
Siddharth Kumar Tewary features among Asian producers to watch at MIPTV
Cannes Lions awards lifetime achievement to Piyush & Prasoon Pandey
TVF’s ImMature first Indian show to reach Canneseries
iWorld
Prime Video to stream Tamil thriller Exam from May 15
Seven-episode series from National Award-winner A. Sarkunam streams in India and 240-plus countries
MUMBAI: Prime Video announced on April 27th that Exam, a taut seven-episode suspense drama set against the crucible of high-stakes competitive testing, will premiere on May 15th in India and across more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Written and directed by A. Sarkunam, a National Award-winner, the series is produced under the Wallwatcher Films banner by the creative duo Pushkar and Gayatri, who have previously delivered Suzhal: The Vortex (both seasons) and Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie for the platform. Dushara Vijayan and Aditi Balan lead the cast, with Abbas in a pivotal role.
The show will stream in Tamil with dubbed versions in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada, and subtitles in 15 languages, including English, a distribution sweep that underscores Prime Video’s push to globalise Indian regional content.
Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India, framed the series as both timely and commercially astute. “Exam is a very timely and relevant story that captures the emotional intensity of competitive exams and masterfully transforms it into a thrilling high-stakes drama,” he said. “We believe it is a story that will resonate deeply with millions.” Madhok noted that it was a privilege to once again collaborate with Pushkar and Gayatri following the success of Suzhal and Vadhandhi.
For Pushkar and Gayatri, the series is as much a moral reckoning as a thriller. “With Exam, we wanted to dig into ambition, injustice, and those moral crossroads that people face when pushed to the edge,” the creative producers said. “At the heart of this story is a young woman who refuses to remain powerless. Her journey is not about glamorising defiance, but about exploring the emotional and ethical cost of standing up to a system stacked against her.” They described Prime Video as “an incredible collaborator” and “the perfect home” to bring the series to global audiences.
Wallwatcher Films, which Pushkar and Gayatri founded and run, has been on a productive streak with the platform. Beyond Exam, the company is also readying Vadhandhi Season 2 for Prime Video, making the duo one of the platform’s most active regional creative partners.
The real exam, it seems, is for Prime Video itself: can a Tamil drama about systemic injustice and a young woman’s defiance crack audiences from Chennai to Chicago? If Pushkar and Gayatri’s track record is anything to go by, the answer is likely yes, and the results will be out on May 15th.
