Niyi Akinmolayan makes a strong case for streaming movies

With the advent of Netflix, HBO, Prime Video, and now Disney+, more moviegoers have turned to streaming platforms to meet their entrainment demands.

The soaring demand to stream movies at home got even higher in 2020 when everyone was stuck indoors due to the COVID pandemic.

Even with the pandemic behind us, more projects are going straight to streaming as opposed to hitting cinemas first before eventually landing on streamers.

As a result, there is an ongoing streaming vs cinema argument with iconic filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg complaining that streaming has killed the cinema.

With the new release of Anthill Studios' first direct-to-streaming title The House of Secrets, we asked the critically acclaimed director Niyi Akinmolayan for his thoughts on the debate.

Contrary to a growing number of filmmakers, the Nollywood hitmaker believes that streaming makes room for creative freedom.

"Everyone is a bit sceptical about what works in cinema these days. You might have this mind-blowing intelligent drama, but nothing happens. What Amazon does is that it allows me to make this kind of film where we can tap into new talents and expressions," he stated.

Further making a case for streaming over the theatrical release, Akinmolayan touched on how making movies for the big screen often hinders a filmmaker's choices.

In his words, "The moment you start thinking about cinema, a lot of things will change. That probably wouldn't be the lead actress, you would probably be like, 'Ah I'm going to need a popular face, so who are we going to put blah blah blah?'"

While he believes in the power and appreciates the need for streamers, the filmmaker tells us that he is not abandoning one for the other as he still intends to release the family-friendly Mikolo and other projects in cinemas.

Akinmolayan's straight-to-streaming title The House of Secrets is currently available on Prime Video.

Watch the trailer: