Thursday, June 11, 2026

Streamers are Squeamish: Netflix, Apple, and Amazon All Cancel South by Southwest on Virus Fears and Panic

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Streaming services are more scared than studios of the coronavirus.

Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are all out of South by Southwest. They’ve cancelled their screenings and panels at the upcoming festivals.

So far the regular movie studios have not thrown in the towel.  But it’s funny that the streamers, who are supposed to be so creative and bold, were the first to abandon ship. Paramount and Universal have several entries at SXSW. All eyes are on them now.

Facebook and Twitter have also pulled programs. Again, they’re from the fearless internet.

Depending on how the virus situation, all film festivals could be in trouble. But my sources at Cannes say they’re proceeding as if nothing has changed. We’ll see. If New York continues to have new patients revealed, what about the Tribeca Festival?

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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