This is not the industry we thought we were getting.
When one of the most important auteurs of our day speaks up about Hollywood, it would be good for us to listen. Quentin Tarantino gave an interview with the German Zeit Magazine where he talked about his career at length. He spoke about coming into Hollywood, his first projects, and how he’s ridden a fairy tale ever since.
Tarantino is finishing directing feature films with his tenth movie, and he thinks he might be one of the last people ever do to that. Why? Because the Hollywood he knew is virtually gone.
Yes, it’s a shame. It’s not the Hollywood I knew. Will the kind of cinema experience I grew up with still exist in five or six years? We will see. I certainly haven’t left Hollywood – Hollywood has left me. I’ll probably be the last one to turn off the light there […] I’ll probably be around a few more years than Hollywood itself.
This is a scary idea that I hope the public hears and understands. Thanks to the conglomerate takeover and tech buyouts, and studio mergers, becoming the next Quentin Tarantino is virtually impossible. Studios want intellectual property and blockbusters.
They want huge box office success of sure things, not to roll the dice on hearing new voices.
How do we fight back against this stuff?
The answer is more complicated than a rallying cry. Some of it goes back to seeking out original ideas in theaters and at home. Other parts just involve making your voice heard and not being afraid to push back by getting rid of streamers and other items when they don’t have what you want.
It will be interesting to see where Hollywood goes in the next few years.
And like Tarantino, I hope it doesn’t leave us behind.
