Amazon, Laying In The Weeds

Just before Mardi Gras I was lucky enough to be in that most Un-American of American cities, New Orleans. I love this town. It is worn out, a tad disheveled but within it there is a truth of the human condition and an amazingly strong sense of community. Forged out of Spanish, French, Creole, Cajun, and American influences, it is truly a Gumbo of a culture and when it works it gives me hope and is the ideal example of community.

I witnessed the impact of this celebration of Mardi Gras, I witnessed the various Krewes and their parades. I watched neighbors' stream out of their homes and wait hours in advance for a Krewe Parade to start. These were people who have been through so much and it further defined them.? I listened to the conversations of the citizens; it was all skewed towards this celebration. Inspired by the period prior to the Catholic period of reflection and atonement known as Lent. This week-long explosion of concentrated joy really built an iron like sense of community which carried over throughout the year.

?I really thought about how this community building can provide a sense of celebration for movie going. I think the tinpot reviewers, coupled with studio confusion and frankly an awkward pricing model have seriously eroded the excitement of a movie’s release. The studios have fallen on their own swords in many ways. Now streaming is being looked at by Wall Street with suspect eyes as the major players begin, as I knew they would, to stumble.

?For too many years Netflix has been the king of all streaming media services, the gold standard but it's looking like the Red giant is beginning to lose the streaming wars. Its North American growth has severely stalled. This quarter Netflix stumbled compared to the rising house of mouse which gained? more subscribers than any other streaming service in the waning months of 2021. In the last quarter of 2021, Disney+ gained 11.7 million subscribers while Netflix plussed up just 8.3 million. I find this a bit odd since I think the strongest VOD streaming in regards to product diversity and quality is HBO MAX. I think that the Disneyfication of the Star Wars series, The Mandalorian and The Book of Bobba Fett, is primarily the impetus for increased subscription.

?I personally think Disney’s dominance is short lived. On September 2nd the long awaited “Lord of the Rings” series is being launched on Amazon Prime. This has been an intensely crafty strategy being put forward by Amazon. They have been laying in the weeds, sniffing the air and playing the long game. “The Rings Of Power”, the “Lord of the Rings” series shall be part of a beach head being put forward by Amazon which I feel is the start of a market dominance.

?Amazon is starting to make deals with companies who have a track record of making feature length motion pictures based on popular video games. The popularity of “Uncharted” has shown the studios a path of regaining youth audiences. Amazon is actively remounting the next round of nostalgic intellectual property, titles include Teddy Ruxpin and my personal favorite Sega’s ToeJam and Earl. One of the companies Amazon has built an alliance with is DJ2 which struck a deal producer first-look deal with Swedish video game powerhouse Raw Fury. Raw Fury is the publisher behind such games such as Norco and Sable.

?One of the key things that Amazon is promoting is creating regional streaming power blocks, realizing their vulnerability to European Union sanctions if the streaming giant is perceived as controlling the entire flow in a vertical legal format.? HBO MAX is preparing for a 15 country rollout and is preparing a plan which is distinctly local, with local hubs, local curation, and local investment in production.

?What is fascinating is that Amazon is engaging in the acquisition of deep theatrical talent. Two weeks ago they launched the search for a theatrical sale coordinator. At the present moment they are looking for 63 positions to fill in the world of theatrical exhibition. This is good news, very good news. I suspect though what they really want to do is to create a totally integrated system of distribution which is vertically integrated. I think they will begin a period of experimentation seeing if an initial VOD release can create business in theatrically released sequels as well as use the tried and true pattern of distribution. Doing day and date with a theatrical title that is tied to the release of a video game title is also a strategy which may be tested. I think that Amazon is a bit weary of the video game streaming platform TWITCH and is eager to widen its deep entry into gaming via the banner of Amazon Gaming.

?Amazon is keenly aware that what has happened with streaming will also happen with gaming. The arrival of Cloud gaming, sometimes called gaming on demand or gaming-as-a-service, is a form of online gaming that runs video games on remote servers and streams them directly to a user's device, or more colloquially, playing a game remotely from a cloud. Next year most SMART TV’s will be cloud gaming enabled. Look for Amazon to partner with theaters for expansive video game tournaments, and twin theatrical releases to those tournaments.

?Right now Amazon is hiring for 1100 positions all touching on gaming, streaming, theatrical release and of course the metaverse. They are being thoughtful and trying in a stealthy manner to build out their own form of community. This is a race for hearts and minds. Netflix is being seen as shaky, Disney+ has built its kingdom on a few tentpoles, HBO MAX is throwing money at content acquisition, and Amazon is focusing on building a culture from which to sell from. At the end of the day this is Amazon’s world and we only live in it.