In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, the team debates why open letters have become so popular in the film industry and what kind of impact they can have. 

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Host Wendy Mitchell is joined by Screen’s deputy editor Louise Tutt and Europe editor Tim Dams to discuss the latest in a growing trend of open letters - this time, two in support of Israeli-born filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who was forced to withdraw from the FID Marseille jury as part of a cultural boycott of Israel. 

Other film industry open letters in recent months covered topics such as Canal+ owner Vincent Bollore, the Berlinale’s stance on Gaza and the Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery deal.

”The impact of [open letters] in this case was interesting because I wasn’t aware of the Nadav Lapid situation at FID Marseille before these open letters,” Tutt said. “While sometimes the origins of them and the motivation for them can be a little bit strange, I think what did work this time is they brought this issue out into the open.”

Dams said he believed the rise in open letters speaks to the times we are living in. ”People must think of them as being effective. Occasionally, they do work. Sometimes they backfire badly. But they are effective at quickly raising an issue. They’re much easier to organise now. You can use social media or you can use email. They can quickly take off in a way that they perhaps never could do previously…They’re part of a useful kind of lobbying armoury now.”

The trio then discussed the new deal between Netflix and France’s TF1, which will make TF1’s content available on the streaming service.

”It means that somebody who turns on their Netflix can stay and watch Netflix stuff and TF1 without leaving Netflix’s ecosystem. And so they got more eyeballs and time spent on the platform,” Dams explained. ”TF1, in return, gets access to the audience that Netflix has, which perhaps skews younger, and they get to sell their own advertising within their programme, so it potentially boosts their revenue as well.”

The Screen Podcast is produced by Ellie Calnan, with Wendy Mitchell serving as editorial director. New episodes every Thursday.

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