Lights, camera, stream - A Master’s thesis on the contemporary consumption of film with digital natives.

The landscape of film consumption is one that has been evolving constantly over the last few decades. Today however consumers are not only spoiled by the variety of content released in cinemas but also by the new players in the business, SVOD services. Digital natives have grown up with new technologies and have been easily adapting to whatever comes their way. The digital natives did not grow up with the same amount of technologies that we have today, and they can ironically enough remember the ‘simpler’ times. They also grew up during the peak of illegal streaming and downloading. This creates an interesting dynamic in film consumption which leads to the following research question: How do digital natives obtain and consume contemporary film? The thesis analyses how these three consumption methods (SVOD, Cinema and Piracy) co-exist in these digital times and how one influences the other. In order to do so, the thesis applies the Uses and Gratifications through the use of in-depth interviews. A sample of 12 respondents between the ages of 17 and 25 was acquired where the participants were asked about their motivations and experiences towards each of the consumption methods. This thesis provides a fresh take on the subject due to its qualitative nature. Previous research provided the groundwork for the topic list, the eventual results and findings. The findings suggest that cinema attendance has decreased and has become more blockbuster oriented. People have become more selective due to SVOD and perceive the cinema experience as more of an activity. SVOD satisfaction does not necessarily lie with the film content but with the medium itself and television series which may change with new competitors. While film consumption at home is still very much present, it has made way for a more frequent consumption of television series. The digital natives also admit that their illegal consumption has mostly been reduced to an emergency medium. The increasing technological developments hint at a volatile future in film consumption.