Will Tavlin
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH FOR SENSITIVE SUBJECTS
Selected writing
DECEMBER 2025 New York
Who is Mubi For?
“When Efe Cakarel founded Mubi in 2007, it was primarily known as a message board for hard-core cinephiles to discuss their favorite directors. His plan was both ambitious and unlikely: to make a globally dominant studio out of art-house cinema. Somehow, he succeeded. Mubi became a powerful indie distributor in the U.S., releasing some of the most innovative American films of the past decade. It connected with a younger generation of fans that was attracted to the company’s willingness to show some of the world’s most outré and marginal films and that forged an organic community whose views on politics skewed heavily toward the left. However, as Mubi’s ambitions grow — its 2024 film 'The Substance' grossed more than $80 million at the box office and was nominated for multiple Academy Awards — it could alienate the very community that made it successful.”
DECEMBER 2024 n+1Casual Viewing
“For a century, the business of running a Hollywood studio was straightforward. The more people watched films, the more money the studios made. With Netflix, however, audiences don’t pay for individual films. They pay a subscription to watch everything, and this has enabled a strange phenomenon to take root. Netflix’s movies don’t have to abide by any of the norms established over the history of cinema: they don’t have to be profitable, pretty, sexy, intelligent, funny, well-made, or anything else that pulls audiences into theater seats. Netflix’s audiences watch from their homes, on couches, in beds, on public transportation, and on toilets. Often they aren’t even watching.”
JULY 2025 Air MailCinephilia, Italian-Style
“Every June, tens of thousands of hardcore film fans from around the world make a pilgrimage to Italy. Their destination is Il Cinema Ritrovato, a festival in Bologna dedicated to the history of movies.Interest in the festival has exploded in recent years, so much so that organizers now use a digital-ticketing system that has put an end to the long queues that wrapped around Bologna’s streets. As Hollywood executives continue to churn out bad films that lose money—box-office receipts are still well below pre-pandemic levels—Il Cinema Ritrovato has proved that certain audiences will not just pay to see good movies but travelthousands of miles for the privilege.”
MARCH 2022 n+1Digital Rocks
““Eventually DCI scrubbed celluloid film almost entirely from the film industry, ushering in the most significant technological shift since the introduction of sound. The digital revolution transformed nearly every aspect of filmmaking for Hollywood and independent filmmakers alike. This revolution was invisible, and it was designed to be that way. Its success depended on audiences never noticing at all.”
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