Barry Levinson hails disruptive digital revolution

Barry Levinson hailed the disruptions of the digital revolution as creating diversity and story-telling opportunities. Those are things that the director says the modern Hollywood studios struggle to consistently deliver. At a Toronto festival master class on Friday, Levinson was in sparkling form after a gala performance of his low-budget Al Pacino and Greta Gerwig-starring indie The Humbling, which delves into the pain of creative performances.

“The studios are not interested in movies about people. There is such a corporate sensibility, they are always looking for a tentpole,” Levinson said.

“That’s why TV is becoming so big. That’s where the stories are, that where the characters are, and that’s where the actors want to go. That’s why we’re seeing this shift taking place. To Netflix, HBO and cable. There’s a radical change about to take place.”

The Academy Award winner (for Rain Man) also described the on-off process of making The Humbling on a $2 million budget over a period of many months and with some scenes shot in his home.