Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Markham
Not sure how Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime level work but I assume they have a filter on who gets published. Youtube allow anyone within their rules to submit and try to make money.
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Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are film distribution companies, not just sites. They are an important part of the film industry and their involvement with a film is considerably more significant than just allowing "anyone within their rules to submit."
When you watch a film, the distributor's name is in the credits. They are, to a large extent, taking responsibility for every film they distribute. Even if they aren't in some way involved in the production (which all three of the aforementioned do produce their own content now), they are attaching their names to the film, with all of the rights and responsibilities that that entails.
They actually have to pay for the license to distribute a film. As such, they are invested in its success. Not that Clips4Sale and PornHub don't want people to view their posters' vids, but with the volume that they do, a lot of videos can go unwatched and it doesn't affect their bottom line. If a film distribution company pays for a film and nobody buys it, they are out that money. So, yes, they definitely have to choose carefully what they do and don't distribute. And it's way more than just a "filter." It's one of the vagaries of the whole film industry which makes it such a challenge to become a successful part of.
If you produce a film, you have to convince a distributor that it has value to the market and that it will sell. Small, independent productions don't generally command a high license fee, but there is still money involved, and decisions still have to be made on what gets shown. SPOILER ALERT: Not everything does. For every rotten movie that you wonder how it got made and how it got to the point where you saw it, there are at least a dozen real turds that didn't pass anyone's "filter."