According to media expert Pascal Lechevalier, Kafa is “the ruler of the entertainment world.”

Amazon announced Wednesday that US movie studios will buy Metro Goldwin Mayer (MGM) for $ 8.45 billion (6. 6.9 billion). This acquisition allows him to get his hands on a thick list of films and intensify competition with his rivals Netflix and Disney. “Kafa takes power in Hollywood”, Wednesday in Francinefo, Pascal Lechevalier, expert on demodialization and media, is the chairman and founder of Watts Hot Media, a consulting firm on new media. “They really drive the entertainment world today.”

franceinfo: Should we worry about the acquisition of Amazon MGM?

Pascal Lechevalier: The first observation is that Kafa, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix are seizing power in Hollywood. They descend from the top of Silicon Valley towards Hollywood and its studios. This is a trend that is confirmed monthly. The Amazon acquisition announcement is further proof that they are truly driving the entertainment world today. They get their hands on all the gems that Hollywood has produced for a hundred years now.

Should we believe when Amazon says it wants to defend Metro Goldwin’s mayoral list?

Yes really. Anyway, the list is there. Movies can be watched on TV or on special channels. This is a list, and they will use it. How are they going to exploit it? We’ll see as time goes on. But what is most important to Amazon is what is going to happen from here on out. The big news is that you will have to work with an e-commerce expert room. Again, this is a very new thing. MGM is a classic studio that puts all the work they produce, especially cinema, first in theaters, then with other types of exploitation, television, video, DVD, and now video on demand.

“There is a tendency to avoid room.”

Pascal Lechevalier

to franceinfo

Does this mean that the function of the publications will change?

This year, we noticed that prisons and studios were having trouble finding outlets for their films that would no longer go through the cinema, citing the timeline of the American media, i.e. the period between theatrical release. The video on demand release that existed 90 days before the epidemic has disappeared. Some images are for sale directly on platforms or posted on subscription sites such as Netflix or Disney. This event was accelerated in 2021. Warner Studios has decided to release these blockbusters directly on its platform in the United States. This means that delays and forced passage through the room will not be the main mode at this time. But what we already know is that the time between theatrical release date and the first video-on-demand exploitation is reduced to 30 to 45 days in the United States. It was halved within a year. So there is a tendency to avoid room.

Does this mean that in the short or medium term, the cinema economy will change completely in France?

Quite frankly, no. First, because in France, we are protected. When you have a visa number, there is a media timeline that sets time limits, and it protects exhibitors and theaters. This leaves time to look around the room. It is also important to remember that room sharing is emotional, fascinating, and a place that cannot be reproduced at home. If we come back to the Amazon affair, we need to know that the Broccoli family, which has the final cuts to all of James Bond’s works, has already announced what it is to protect their licenses, and that room was there. Necessary. So not all movies end up on platforms overnight. But this is a very strong trend. When these sites buy movies, they can decide how to use them without discussing with anyone. This is the danger for cinemas today. This is because some sites prefer to keep movies directly at their service rather than returning to the traditional exploitation of the room. We watched it through Netflix, Disney did it, Warner did it. There is no doubt that Amazon will do it at some point.