Streamers Amplify Arthouse Reach

When major streamers buy festival films, they vastly increase the audience for work that would otherwise play a tiny arthouse circuit. That raises the cultural footprint of indie cinema even as it changes the economic incentives around theatrical release and box‑office signaling. — This shifts distribution power: accessibility and cultural impact no longer track theatrical box office, altering how critics, festivals, and studios measure success and influence film financing and exhibition policy.