Rian Johnson Calls Out ‘Horrifying’ Practice of Streamers Purging Their Libraries – IndieWire

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In the blink of an eye, the so-called “streaming wars” have gone from empowering creators to creating more financial insecurity for them. Streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max were once lauded for offering more buyers of quality content, but recent trends have seen them scrap completed projects and remove their own shows to avoid paying royalties as they all struggle to find profitability.

The style of critical pressing now prevalent among music streamers has attracted some notable critics, including “Glass Onion” manager Rian Johnson. Talking to Hollywood ReporterJohnson called for the practice of streamers in pulling films and shows (which they produced themselves) from their libraries.

“It was horrible,” Johnson said. “The fact that it has become common practice is terrible and makes even more terrible. In the history of work, there has been a constant development of terrible things.”

However, Johnson advised creators to focus on their work and avoid thinking about elements of work that are beyond their control: “All you can do as someone who makes things is ultimately put your faith in the idea that if you make something, it’s going to find its audience.”

Despite his objections to the industry’s new strategies, Johnson remains deep in the podcasting business—and his stature ensures that anything he makes will always find an audience. He’s preparing to write and direct a third movie, Knives Out for Netflix while helming Poker Face, which was just renewed for a second season at Peacock. In a recent interview with IndieWire, Johnson explained why he enjoyed the process of working with the writing staff to bring his brand of mystery storytelling to the small screen.

“I wrote the pilot the way I write my movies, just on my own — but then we started a writers’ room and it was the first time I’d written collaboratively. I really enjoyed it. We had a great group of writers and we had Nora and Lila Zuckerman, the showrunners, show me on how it works,” he said. “It was like putting together the pieces of a jigsaw. I will tell you, after years and years and years of writing alone, it was nice to have other people out there.”