It is a "special" volume dedicated to Netflix and beyond because it exhaustively summarizes all the complexity of the infinite problems that have arisen with the advent of video streaming against "traditional" cinema. The production models, languages, narrative structures, distribution and use of audiovisual products by the public have been revolutionized. In a nutshell: everything is no longer the same for those who produce and consume cinema, be it for television, streaming or the traditional cinema.
The volume (full-bodied and in two languages) - Edizioni Sabinae - deals with the entire perimeter of the digital revolution and, not surprisingly, the title is precisely "Netflix and beyond". First of all, in the first part, the new conceptualizations of "audiovisual product" and the characteristics that it has assumed in the globalized economy are addressed. It is a new type of "commodity" and as such requires other paradigms closer to the world of economics and mathematics rather than art and creativity. Therefore, first of all it is a matter of understanding well the mechanisms and economic criteria of the OTTs (Over The Top), their development strategies, their originality and specificity of action in the market. The large platforms, those that now dominate and share the largest slices of the market (Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Apple, Warner) have business models that are at the same time specific for individual markets and global for the rest of the world. Understanding these mechanisms in depth is perhaps the only tool available to those who intend, in one way or another, to be part of them. In fact, today it is difficult to hypothesize the production and distribution of a film if it is not placed beforehand in a context that foresees its insertion in a context of digital flow. Otherwise, which may well be a choice of absolute dignity and validity, imagine it as intended for niche sectors or markets, by amateurs.
"Content is the King" Steve Jobs said about how he imagined the future of the audiovisual world and it is exactly in the ability to produce, or be the owner "forever and for the whole world" of the broadcasting rights that marks the difference between the world of cinema before Netflix and the current one.
The volume then addresses three other areas of great interest: the "new viewers" of streaming and the "old" goers of traditional cinemas. For the former, the tickets sold at the box office are not counted but the number of subscribers (a number usually and jealously kept confidential). Likewise, as far as the distribution of films through television is concerned, the concept of "audience" matters less and less as the same film could be seen "off line" and therefore escape any numerical control logic. How do viewers change or evolve, what stimuli do they react to? Here intervenes a "monster" that has not yet fully deployed all its relevance: the algorithm. Precisely in this regard we are talking about OTT technologies: what happens from the moment you press the Play button on the remote control? What problems arise with the network infrastructure needed to support huge data traffic? Finally, complex problems related to the legal and legislative aspects are tackled - see the entire issue of copyright - with an interesting comparison with what happens in other European countries.
Finally, two brief considerations: the first regards the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. It is a place of national excellence, a war machine capable of churning out young professionals who don't struggle to find employment, as is not the case in many other sectors. It deserves support and attention: it refers to a part of the national economy and culture that weighs and not even a little. The second concerns the Casa del Cinema in Rome: it is a model of cultural promotion that works and can be easily exported everywhere. Citizens thank you.
Did the book write itself, or are there authors and an editor?
It is a periodical magazine published by the cnc.
Inside there are articles signed by various authors.