I haven’t been reading up too much on the ‘Spielberg V Netflix’ saga that’s taking place in the Hollywood trade publications of late. I understand the gist of what’s going on — i.e, Steven Spielberg is perturbed Netflix will continue its Award season dominance (after the success of ‘Roma’) despite what he dubs them as ‘movies made for television’.

I get it, I get it… Old hat Hollywood fighting against the new wave of change. However, I don’t think Netflix needs a helping hand here. The multi-billion dollar streaming behemoth is one of the few companies that could go round for round against a titan of the industry like Spielberg.

The fact of the matter is, technology is changing and Spielberg wants the industry (and especially its awards) to reflect a textbook definition of film and film distribution.

Truth be told, I don’t have a dog in this fight.

I’m all for indie filmmakers and micro-budget filmmakers. These unsung heroes are keeping the industry afloat with their dreams. It’s the fearlessness of the filmmakers around the globe and their audacity to dream of a life for themselves that involves storytelling using a camera that is single-handedly keeping these and other Hollywood ships afloat. Not the billions of dollars behind Netflix, nor the industry awards of Hollywood Politics.

Without the dreams of the practitioners, the micro-budget and mid-tier budget practicing their craft on a hope and a prayer that they will find an audience, there is no industry. There is no industry because there will be no excitement, no diversity, no pioneers. The dreamers tell the filmmakers at the top what works and what stories should be told. It’s not top down.

So while Hollywood fights itself, let us dreamers keep the ships afloat.

Keep making films.