With the hype of the Oscars slowing ebbing away, it seems like a good opportunity to assess the whole Hollywood situation. Over the past couple of years online streaming giants like Netflix are drastically changing the landscape of the entertainment industry. The growth of a streaming serevice would not have been possible without embracing the digital transformation that Salesforce are so enthusiastic about. The awards season highlights this. Netflix and other online film and TV distributors are beginning to dominate TV award season as is in part due to the increased recognition of their original content.
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The incredible rise of Netflix is steadily knocking local theatres and overpriced DVD boxsets out of favour. For anyone unfamiliar, Netflix allows anyone to watch whatever they want, when they want, with an added bonus of no commercial breaks in-between. It features the latest films and TV shows. It also has its own originally produced TV shows and movies proving to be serious competition for Hollywood’s theatrical releases. Tailored to everyone’s interests from romance to action to comedic, the options are endless.
Awards
This year in the Oscar nominations alone, Netflix managed to snag two nominations for two documentaries, “What happened Miss Simone?” and “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.” One stars the life and times of legendary jazz singer Nina Simone and ‘Winter on Fire,’ follows the violent political protests that broke out in Ukraine in 2014.
However, streaming services collecting awards for original content is nothing new. Netflix’s political thriller, House of Cards became the first show distributed from a streaming service to win an award at the Emmys in 2013. Then Netflix received its first Oscar nomination in 2014 for the documentary “The Square”. To add to this, Netflix beat out all other networks this year with an impressive eight nominations.
Although the nominated shows came up short on the night, the influence of the online streaming platforms are far from dissipating. While Netflix remains illusive about their viewership statistics, their digital success story is no mystery. Netflix boasts 75 million subscribers worldwide, a number that can not be ignored.
receiver of action, action, doer of action
Perceived as a threat to the longevity of the theatre business, some argue that Netflix is not worthy enough to receive an Oscar Nomination. But unlike Hollywood, Netflix understands that people want both home and cinema viewing and they want to have the option.
The original shows feature both males and females and this is appealing to female viewers, to see themselves being represented in unique, honest situations. We’ve picked our top five shows on Netflix that have made it a must-have for us.
Taylor’s Top Five TV Shows With Strong Female Leads:
Orange is the New Black
Orange is the New Black follows Piper Chapman, who is a wealthy New Yorker forced to spend fifteen months in prison for a drug related crime. She has to learn prison etiquette and we see her endure several setbacks.
The Good Wife
Alicia Florrick is a devoted wife, mother and perhaps the most embarrassed woman in America. Forced to as a result of an extremely humiliating and very public sex scandal involving her husband (the former States Attorney), she has to put her life back together as a defence attorney.
Pretty Little Liars
The show follows four best friends fighting against an anonymous enemy intent on creating havoc in their personal lives. They try to figure out what happened to their best friend Alison DiLaurentis after her disappearance and eventual murder.
Love
Love is a new Netflix original series following a young couple in their mid-20’s struggling to understand what genuine commitment, intimacy and even falling in love is supposed to look like.
How to Get Away With Murder
Annalise Keating is a driven and successful law professor. She becomes involved in a very twisted and sordid murder case, along with five other overly ambitious handpicked law students.
With fantastic shows on offer like these it is no surprise that online viewing streams such as Netflix and even recently Amazon Studios are steadily becoming pioneers in on-demand TV. These new streaming avenues are modernising and revolutionising the traditional cinematic experience and it’s about time Hollywood took notice.
