Steven Spielberg's spat with Netflix taps into larger fight over the future of movies

He once needed to be cajoled into releasing "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" on VHS.Netflix angered Hollywood traditionalists by putting Cuarón's "Roma" in select theaters for only three weeks before making it available on its digital platform, flouting the usual 90-day "window" that separates a movie's run in theaters and its arrival in your living room.The service's detractors, including the National Association of Theater Owners, dismissed the brief theatrical release as a perfunctory bid to satisfy Oscar eligibility rules, and some major theater chains refused to screen it.Netflix, for its part, has suggested that its convention-defying approach to distribution is supported by the habits and needs of contemporary audiences."In a world where consumer choice is driving everything — how we shop, how we order groceries, how we are entertained — we're trying to get to a place where consumers have theatrical viewing as a choice," Netflix film chief Scott Stuber told The New York Times in December."But we also think it is critical that, if you don't have the means or access or the time to go to a theater, you are still able to see movies without a long wait," Stuber added.Netflix, at its core, is a technology company that runs on algorithms and reams of user data, giving the firm virtually unprecedented insight into the preferences of the modern moviegoer.But it has also embraced the role of a studio, working to poach and please A-list filmmaking talent, including Cuarón, "The Shape of Water" auteur Guillermo del Toro, action king Michael Bay, indie darling Noah Baumbach and television brand names Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes. A brief teaser trailer that aired during the Oscars contained what could be a clue, saying the film would drop "in theaters next fall."The recent reports that Spielberg plans to ask for an eligibility rules change at an upcoming meeting of the film academy's board of governors stoked intense debate online, drawing other directors into the spat.Ava DuVernay (“Selma,” “A Wrinkle in Time”) tweeted at the film academy’s account Friday: “I hope if this is true, that you’ll have filmmakers in the room or read statements from directors like me who feel differently.”Franklin Leonard, an influential industry voice who runs an annual survey of the best unproduced scripts called The BlackList, tweeted over the weekend that Netflix has been a boon for diversity and representation.