Netflix awaits regulatory clearance on its acquisition of Warner Bros. studios … Meanwhile, Paramount is attempting a hostile takeover of the entire Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate.
The so-called “Streaming Wars” are getting ugly — and monopolistic. But there are local alternatives to watch shows at home.
Open Television
For 10 years, the nonprofit Open Television has supported Chicago filmmakers as a media incubator. More recently, it developed its own streaming app, which now offers over 500 titles.
OTV’s core mission is to prop up stories by intersectional artists, meaning artists with two or more marginalized identities.
“ What would happen if we built a space where intersectional artists could create without gatekeepers or algorithms deciding their worth?” When OTV launched in 2015, this was its guiding question, co-founder Elijah McKinnon told City Cast Chicago.
Today, the app includes TV pilots, series, short films, and video art from across genders, sexualities, races, classes, disabilities, and nationalities.
What To Stream on OTV
McKinnon suggests starting with “Brave Futures,” a collection of 40 short films from seven different countries, including Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico.
There are plenty of Chicago-specific series to dive into, too:
- “Brown Girls,” the Emmy-nominated show by Sam Bailey and beloved hometown poet Fatimah Asghar
- “Brujos,” a fan-favorite from Ricardo Gamboa about gay Latino PhD witches
- “ The Right Swipe” in which two best friends start a business editing men’s dating profiles, by creators Kyra Jones and Juli Del Prete
- “Code-Switched,” a dramedy following the lives of five South Asian Chicagoans, from writer/director Karan Sunil
“I can fully say that OTV couldn't exist in a New York, or it couldn't exist in a California by the nature of the collaborative spirit that is embedded inside of Chicago's media landscape,” McKinnon said.
Old-School Options
If you don’t feel like downloading another app, however, consider a trip to McKinley Park where one brick-and-mortar movie rental store is still kicking: The Video Strip.
The Video Strip is Joe Turin’s one-man passion project and has remained in the same storefront since 1995. City Cast Chicago social media manager Rick Homuth visited recently and said stepping inside feels like traveling through time.
☝️ And don’t forget: You can always rent DVDs from the Chicago Public Library or stream movies on hoopla, which operates using your library card.
