And they’re doing it with an Oscar darling. The teaser for Roma, Alfonso Cuaron’s new film, has been released and it looks gorgeous and emotional (aka it looks like an Alfonso Cuaron film). It’s being released by Netflix but will be getting an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run, and it is set to play Venice and TIFF, ensuring visibility during award season. It’s Cuaron’s first Spanish-language film since Y Tu Mamá También, and it’s based on his own memories of growing up in Mexico City during the 1960s and 1970s. A deeply personal film from one of the most admired filmmakers in the world, shot in black and white, no less? Netflix might as well call this movie We F*cking Dare You, Academy.
Although it’s not just top-tier talent and lovely films they’re bringing to bear, Netflix has also gone out and gotten themselves a big gun. Last month they signed Lisa Taback, legendary award season architect, to an exclusive deal, making her the Netflix Oscar maven. She engineered campaigns with the Weinsteins, and though their reputations as human beings—Harvey’s, in particular—have disintegrated, they were still among the fiercest and most cunning Oscar wranglers of the last twenty years. Lisa Taback knows how to get it done. And now she’s getting it done for Netflix. How long until they win a Best Picture Oscar? Five years, tops?
