Sports

'They know she's doing it, too'

This story is jointly published by nonprofits Amplify Utah and The Salt Lake Tribune, to elevate diverse perspectives in local media through student journalism. The first time that University of Utah basketball assistant coach Dasia Young saw Lindsey Kirschman, the reaction was visceral. “I was like ‘dang, she’s jacked, like she’s ripped,’” Young said. It’s […]

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2 months ago

April 20, 2025

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This story is jointly published by nonprofits Amplify Utah and The Salt Lake Tribune, to elevate diverse perspectives in local media through student journalism.

The first time that University of Utah basketball assistant coach Dasia Young saw Lindsey Kirschman, the reaction was visceral.

“I was like ‘dang, she’s jacked, like she’s ripped,’” Young said.

It’s not easy to create a body that looks like that. It’s even harder to maintain it at 37 years old. But Kirschman loves a challenge.

Now, as she ends her third season as the director of sports performance for women’s basketball at the University of Utah, Kirschman’s challenge is keeping the team in shape. That includes daily workouts, lifts, conditioning, or anything else she thinks the athletes need.

The Utes finished the regular season with a 22-7 record, good enough for sixth place in the Big 12 in their first year in the conference. In the postseason, they scored a No. 8 seed in last month’s NCAA Tournament and lost in the first round to Indiana.

Much of the team’s work happens when no one is watching. In the summertime, college basketball players are restricted by NCAA rules that govern how much they can practice on a court, so that’s when they spend the most time strength training to prepare for the upcoming season.

The workouts can be grueling. But Kirschman said she won’t ask anything of a player she wouldn’t do — or that she wouldn’t be excited to do.

“A lot of my hobbies involve physical discomfort,” she said. “My best days are the days where I am just physically exhausted at the end of them.”

That’s what assistant coach Jordan MacIntyre said the players need, too.

“We play a really fast, up-tempo style of basketball, and we have to be able to get up and down the floor and be in our best physical shape to play the brand that we want to play,” MacIntyre said. “That is so much of a credit to the work that she puts in with people outside of our season.”

All of that effort, MacIntyre said, permits the team “the ability to play the style we want to play.”

(Natalie Newton | Amplify Utah) Lindsey Kirschman, at left, strength coach for the Utah Utes women’s basketball team, explains the day’s workout to team members.

Kirschman ‘absolutely motivates them’

Kirschman’s days have early starts. She wakes up around 4 a.m., reads, writes in her journal, goes on a run with her dog, works until 2 p.m., does her own workout, and then goes to bed around 9:30 p.m. She’ll often go to the athletic facility at 4 or 5 in the morning to do the workout that she’s planning on putting her athletes through later that day.

“She actually knows what she’s talking about, which is nice, because, you know, sometimes strength and conditioning coaches don’t look like what they preach,” Young said.

Even though she has often already gone through the workout, Kirschman doesn’t hesitate to jump in alongside the players. At a team lift in late February, for instance, she was stretching, planking and demonstrating different exercises to athletes who needed help. The workout culminated in Kirschman pushing a sled that carried Alyssa Blanck, the Utes’ 6-foot, 2-inch sophomore forward, across 20 yards of turf while the team cheered on the sideline.

“I know that they see her own drive. She can have them do whatever in their workouts because they know she’s doing it, too, and she’s probably done it already before we’ve done it,” MacIntyre said. “That absolutely motivates them and she has such an element of respect because of it.”

Strength coaches at the collegiate and professional levels often have degrees in athletic training, kinesiology or sports medicine. Kirschman, on the other hand, earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science at the University of Washington, where she also competed in track and field.

She then began graduate school for rangeland management. During this period, she started coaching at a high school in her free time and found herself pulled back to the world of sports.

“I would sneak out every afternoon to go volunteer coach at a high school in town,” Kirschman said. But soon she thought, “Why am I sneaking around to do something that I could just do for my job?”

She switched programs to start studying education. After finishing her master’s program, she taught science and coached track and field, cross country, and strength and conditioning at Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado.

“I think a lot of my own coaches have been role models and that’s part of the reason why I wanted to be a coach, because as an athlete I thought about who has had the biggest impact in my life in a positive way and it’s always coaches,” Kirschman said. “I wanted to be that for other athletes.”

Kirschman taught and coached for eight years in Colorado. Eventually she began thinking about how she could take herself to the next level. Being a high school strength coach often means having a lot of teams to oversee, and Kirschman grew tired of working with that many athletes at once.

“I was coaching before school, teaching all day, coaching after school, coaching all summer, but I had hundreds of athletes,” she said. “You can only do so much with each one individual athlete when you’ve got 300 more coming.”

She found a new opportunity at the University of Central Arkansas, as the school’s assistant strength and conditioning coach. Kirschman took a 50% pay cut — and was still training hundreds of athletes — but the prospect of a new mountain to climb was enticing.

“The challenge of that was appealing to me. I wanted to be held accountable to the highest standard possible, and have that risk of, if you’re not good at your job you’re going to get fired,” Kirschman said. “It’s kind of hard to fire someone at the high school level. … I want to see if I have what it takes to hang.”

Kirschman’s teaching experience has been a benefit.

“She comes with a lot of different experiences that a lot of other strength coaches don’t have… she does a lot of teaching of exercises,” Utah women’s basketball athletic trainer Christina Jones said. “She has all of those fundamentals down very well and can connect with the athletes and really hones into the teaching aspect.”

After one season in Arkansas, the University of Utah women’s basketball program hired Kirschman. In Utah, she finally got her wish of working with athletes on an individual level.

“First time in my career that I only had one team to work with,” she said. “I went from working with 300-plus athletes to working with 14, and that’s been a huge blessing and learning experience.”

(Natalie Newton | Amplify Utah) Lindsey Kirschman, at left, strength coach for the Utah Utes women’s basketball team, joins the team during a morning workout.

Tough in the weight room, but ‘kind-hearted’

Her one-on-one work with athletes doesn’t go unnoticed. Jones noted that Kirschman is especially focused when it comes to injured players. Any time the team is on the road, she gets up early with the athletes who are injured to put them through a workout in the hotel gym before breakfast.

“I think it’s a cool thing that she does, and the ability to adapt and be able to do that in the hotel,” Jones said. “It’s hard to do that when your other teammates aren’t doing that when you’re hurt.”

It’s that attentiveness that gives Kirschman one of her greatest strengths as a coach. Those who work with her say she has an innate kindness, an ability to make connections with people, that lifts her to the next level. Anyone who works with or plays for Kirschman will sooner or later be likely to receive a valentine in their locker, a note, a treat she’s baked, or a moment where she genuinely checks in because she cares.

“She’s probably one of the most, if not the most, kind-hearted people I’ve ever worked with, let alone met,” MacIntyre said. “She really is someone that cares to be there for other people, and wants her impact to be so much more than just teaching people how to get stronger.”

Kirschman gets the best results from people, Young said, because she has their best interests at heart.

“Nobody’s ever going to listen to their teacher if they don’t like them or if they don’t believe in what they do,” Young said. “She mastered that perfectly — to get people to do hard things and enjoy it at the same time.”

Kirschman said she knows that players respect her because she is a good strength coach but, she said, “people love me because of the impact I have on their lives and in their heart and that I have a relationship with them.”

That love can be leveraged into the sort of trust she needs, from her athletes, to get them to do things they might not do otherwise.

“She just always made sure that we didn’t settle. I could be curling 25s and she’s like, ‘Babe, you can definitely go to 40.’ I’m like, ‘I could but do I want to?’ and she’ll come pick up those 40s and hand them to me,” Young said. “I can do more. That’s probably what I took away from her the most: that I can do more. Whatever that is.”

Natalie Newton wrote this story as a journalism student at the University of Utah for a capstone course focused on women’s sports. It is published as part of a collaborative including nonprofits Amplify Utah and The Salt Lake Tribune.

Sports

We have reached the point of no return – BG Falcon Media

The House v. NCAA settlement, announced Friday night, officially marks the end of the college sports landscape that we all love and know and the beginning of a dark future for non-Power Four conference schools. The settlement does nothing but allow the Power Four conferences to expand their powers and silence the voices of the […]

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3 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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The settlement does nothing but allow the Power Four conferences to expand their powers and silence the voices of the Group of Five schools.

The main subject of the settlement is an annual cap for universities to directly pay athletes for their name, image and likeness (NIL).

However, the kicker is that the amount is based on a percentage of a defined set of Power Four athletics department revenues, with not all colleges factored in.

This means that Bowling Green and other similar schools will have to continue dealing with bigger schools spending $20 million per year, which is over half of BGSU’s operating athletic budget. This will only allow the bigger schools to justify their spending, which will continue to make it harder for the majority of smaller schools to keep up and stay competitive.

The settlement does nothing but continue to widen the gap between the Power Four and non-Power Four schools.

In addition to being able to pay athletes directly, athletes will also be able to continue making NIL deals with entities other than their respective schools.

On the surface, this sounds fair. However, there’s another kicker.

A new entity will be assigned to watch over all of the non-university NIL agreements and make sure they do not violate any rules. However, the College Sports Commission is not an initiative by the NCAA but rather a collaboration among the Power Four conferences. In fact, the top figures in the organization who have the power to make the big decisions are ACC Commissioner Jim Philips, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.

All Division I athletes who have a deal with a non-university entity for $600 or more have to report to the College Sports Commission’s system called “NIL Go,” which will then be evaluated to determine whether the deal has a “valid business purpose” and is within “a reasonable range of compensation,” whatever those terms are eventually deemed to mean. The commission and commissioners will have full power to enforce their rules, whatever they end up being, and penalize rule-breakers.

Firstly, I’m not sure if it’s possible to make the details more vague if you tried. Secondly, do any of us trust the Power Four conferences and their commissioners not to take advantage of the landscape and find loopholes while limiting the power and abilities of non-Power Four schools — I do not.

I can almost guarantee that there will be more ensuing legal battles due to the recent settlement and that this is only the beginning of the college athletics landscape being altered forever. We have officially reached the point of no return. College sports are no longer college sports — they are now the minor leagues.

Ultimately, the settlement does nothing but continue to allow the Power Four conferences to expand their powers as we continue to head on a collision course toward a super conference, which will officially mark the death for non-Power Four schools.

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Manheim Central gearing up for PIAA Class 2A volleyball semifinal showdown against familiar foe York Suburban | Boys’ volleyball

Manheim Central’s boys volleyball team is simply sizzling. Caution: Flammable. There has been no slowing down the Barons over their previous five matches, which have all ended with dominating 3-0 victories. Three of those came in the District 3 Class 2A tournament, when Central slayed Northern Lebanon, Linville Hill Christian and York Suburban by a […]

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4 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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Manheim Central’s boys volleyball team is simply sizzling.

Caution: Flammable.

There has been no slowing down the Barons over their previous five matches, which have all ended with dominating 3-0 victories.

Three of those came in the District 3 Class 2A tournament, when Central slayed Northern Lebanon, Linville Hill Christian and York Suburban by a combined 9-0 to nab their second district title, and first since 2019.

That district crown came on the heels of Central winning its third straight Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 championship, before the Barons reached the league finale for the third year in a row. But after winning two straight L-L crowns, they were tripped up by Cedar Crest in the title match this time around.

That loss has motivated Central, which has been sharp in all facets since that setback against the Falcons. Defense in the back? Check. Setting prowess? Check. Serve game? Check. Front-row play, including piling up kills and blocking everything left and right? Check and check.

The Barons bagged a pair of PIAA Class 2A playoff wins last week, both via shutout, over Academy at Palumbo and Dock Mennonite Academy. Saturday’s victory in the quarterfinals against Dock Mennonite served as some payback for the Barons, who were knocked out by the Pioneers in the state quarterfinals in 2022.

Manheim Central breezes past Academy at Palumbo for spot in PIAA Class 2A boys volleyball quarterfinals

Manheim Central drops Dock Mennonite Academy, barrels into PIAA Class 2A volleyball semifinals

Central (22-1 overall) is set to square off against a familiar foe in Tuesday’s state semifinals; the Barons will clash with York Suburban for the third time this season, and for the second time in 13 days. The Barons and the Trojans will duke it out at 5 p.m. at Penn Manor in Millersville.

Central held off Suburban 25-23, 27-25 and 25-22 in a hotly contested nonleague match back on May 5 in York. In the rematch, on May 29 in Manheim, the Barons scarfed up a 25-21, 25-17, 25-19 win for district gold.

“We’ll have a lot of confidence going into the game,” Central defensive wizard Colin Rohrer said. “You always want to be confident, and I’d say we’re pretty confident right now. As long as we can stay consistent — getting our serves in, playing good defense, hitting the ball — we feel like we can probably beat any team in the state.”

In Central’s first encounter with Suburban this spring, Dylan Musser teed up 35 assists, Reagan Miller blasted 14 kills and Landon Mattiace had seven blocks to spearhead the Barons.

In the district finale, Musser was everywhere with 34 assists, eight kills, five aces, five digs and a pair of blocks; Miller waffled 11 kills with 11 digs; Mattiace had 10 kills and a couple of blocks; Rohrer had 18 digs; and Weston Longenecker (8 kills, 9 digs) and Caleb Groff (5 kills, 8 digs) came up big from their outside hitter spots.

That kind of balance has been the Barons’ calling card.

Manheim Central serves up win against York Suburban, bags second District 3 Class 2A boys volleyball championship

MC-YS III will be for a spot in Saturday’s state championship match, set for 11 a.m. inside Penn State’s esteemed Rec Hall.

Central and Suburban are both 0-2 in PIAA championship matches. The Trojans bounced the Barons 3-1 in the state semifinals in 2019.

Tuesday’s other Class 2A state semifinal is another dandy matchup, with District 10 winner and reigning PIAA champ Meadville taking on District 7 champ Shaler.

Meadville, which features 6-foot-7 junior middle Luc Sorensen, a Team USA member and a Penn State recruit, beat Central 3-1 in last year’s state finale. Shaler won the PIAA Class 3A crown last spring compliments of a 3-0 win over Parkland — after the Titans eliminated Warwick in the semifinals.

Shaler dipped down to Class 2A this season, and finds itself right back in the state semifinals.

Central is in the state playoffs for the eighth season in a row; the 2020 campaign was canceled because of COVID-19. Since 2017, the Barons are 15-7 in PIAA matches, with finals trips in 2018 (a loss to Northeastern York) and last spring (a loss to Meadville).

Central reached the quarterfinals in all eight trips, with semifinal appearances in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024 and this spring. The Barons are a chiseled bunch, piloted by a veteran coach, Craig Dietrich, who knows how to steer a team through a playoff bracket.

“It’s an exciting time,” Central middle Blake Neiles said. “We got to play in the state finals last year, and not many people get to experience that. Now we want to go back.”

It is chalk across the board in the PVCA Class 2A state rankings; Meadville is first, Central is second, Shaler is third and York Suburban is fourth.

Setter of attention: Manheim Central senior standout steers Barons' successful volleyball program

TRIPLE TROUBLE IN TRIPLE-A

Three of the four teams still standing in the PIAA Class 3A bracket call District 3 home. That’s pretty impressive.

Tuesday’s semifinals will pit undefeated District 3 champ Cumberland Valley against District 3 third-seed Governor Mifflin, and District 3 runner-up Central York against WPIAL kingpin North Allegheny, which is angling for its 10th state crown.

Central York, which has captured 25 District 3 and seven PIAA titles, KO’d Governor Mifflin, the Berks County champ, in the district semifinals.

North Allegheny was tripped up by Warwick in the first round last spring, so the Tigers are plenty motivated to get back in the winner’s circle this time around.

It is also chalk in the PVCA Class 3A state rankings; Cumberland Valley is first, North Allegheny is second, Central York is third and Governor Mifflin is fourth.

Cedar Crest gets defensive, dethrones Manheim Central for first L-L League boys volleyball championship

Here are your 2025 L-L League boys volleyball all-stars, section MVPs [list]

X: @JeffReinhart77

MORE L-L LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL COVERAGE

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Kya Crooke breaks long and high jump record at IHSAA girls track state meet

Kya Crooke breaks records at IHSAA girls track and field state meet Heritage Christian’s Kya Crooke broke records in the long and high jump at the girls state meet. Her success ties back to her father and coach, Val. Kya Crooke won the long jump with a leap of 20-4.75, breaking a 39-year-old state meet […]

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24 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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Kya Crooke won the long jump with a leap of 20-4.75, breaking a 39-year-old state meet record.
The Heritiage Christian senior also won the high jump, going 6-0.25 to break a 40-year-old state meet record.
The Arizona recruit views track as a way to reach others.

INDIANAPOLIS – Kya Crooke pleaded with her mother for tickets to see R&B artist SZA in St. Louis. In ordinary parental fashion, Julie Crooke initially told her daughter no since the concert was three days before the IHSAA girls track state meet. The Heritage Christian senior persisted.

With her persistence came a pledge.

“I told my mom, ‘No, I have to be at that concert; I promise I’ll do good at state,’” Kya said.

Julie granted permission. In turn, her daughter did better than good. Crooke set state meet records in the long jump (20-4.75) and high jump (6-0.25) Saturday at the IHSAA girls track and field state meet at North Central. The long jump record stood for 39 years, and the high jump record, 40.

“That record has been around for so long, so it’s been my goal this whole season to work toward breaking the long and high jump records,” Crooke said. “Coming out here and being able to do that, I can hear the people clapping with me. It’s just really cool to see.”

Crooke said she was anxious before her jumps but talked to friends to calm her nerves and “have fun,” claiming, “That’s when I’m at my best.” Her best left her dad, Val, at a loss for words.

“I’m speechless. To have the last meet of her senior year and to break the long and high jump records, that girl has something special,” Val said. “I just sat back and watched; I didn’t even have to coach anymore.”

Val trained his daughter since she began track and field. He ran track on his native Caribbean island of St. Kitts and later attended college at Anderson University. When Crooke was in middle school, Val and Julie started the SocaSpeed track club. With four state titles, including one in soccer her freshman year, Crooke said it’s “awesome to be the person the girls at Soca could look up to.”

“We talk about the little brown and black girls that get to see someone high jump and say, ‘I want to do that,’ and there are girls in St. Kitts now going, ‘What in the world, that girl is going crazy,'” Val said. “Now, I am going to have a ton of young ladies in the islands that want to high and long jump.”

Val’s confidence and excitement in his following comment released a strong Carribean accent.

“St. Kitts got the sprints covered,” he said. “We got the jumps now.”

Crooke hopes to compete for St. Kitts in future international competitions. After every meet, she sends videos to her grandparents and extended family on the island, and they often ask Val for ways to livestream her events.

“There’s a whole other country behind me,” Crooke said.

The City Female Athlete of the Year appreciates her domestic support as well. Born and raised in Indiana, Crooke acknowledged her parents, high school coaches and teammates for “pulling for her to be the best I can be.” She praised Indiana for granting multiple opportunities, like the Indiana All-Star track meet, for its athletes to gain experience and showcase their talents.

Crooke will attend Arizona in the fall, where she’ll be trained by decorated jumps coach Bobby Carter. As Crooke builds a ladder of achievements in track and field, Val recognizes his daughter’s inclination to carry others up with her.

“She understands she has a plan and purpose for her life and gets to walk in it and bring people along. It’s not about her, it’s about others,” Val said. “At the end of the day, this is all about her love for Christ, so to see that play out in her athletics, where she gives God the glory for all of her successes, it brings tears to my eyes.”

For Crooke, her actions must reflect that she represents someone beyond herself.

“I had to learn that whether I’m doing bad or amazing, people are watching and can see how I handle certain situations. Track is my ministry, so I like people to see something different in how I handle things and ask, ‘Why did I do it that way?’” Crooke said. “My athletic ability is a gift from God, and I love that I can show that through a sport I love so much.

“The biggest compliment I’ve received these past two years from people is that they can see Christ through me on the track, and that’s really why I’m out here. I want to continue to do that out in Arizona and whatever else is planned.”

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Volleyballers Continue In ECVA U21 Event

Bermuda’s women’s duo of Kayley Hamilton and Hailey Moss concluded competition in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association Under-21 Beach Championships after a tight three-set battle in the quarter-finals. Competing in windy conditions, the Bermudian pair lost 2-1 to Jassania Joseph and Jaya Carr of Antigua. Hamilton and Moss captured the first set 21-18 before the […]

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29 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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Competing in windy conditions, the Bermudian pair lost 2-1 to Jassania Joseph and Jaya Carr of Antigua. Hamilton and Moss captured the first set 21-18 before the Antiguan team rallied to win the next two sets 21-15 and 15-12 to advance.

In the men’s division, Bermuda’s team of Anijhaé Dos Santo Martin and Kyle Mello endured two defeats.

They fell 2-0 to Mervin Mingo and Bill Frederick from Dominica, with set scores of 21-11 and 21-9. In their second match, the Bermudian pair lost 2-0 to Trevon Smith and Shaquoy Reid of Anguilla, with scores of 21-19 and 21-10.

Central Ohio schools win big at Track and Field State Tournament

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Track and Field State Tournament returned to Ohio State this weekend with a highly successful meet for central Ohio schools. The two-day OHSAA track and field championships wrapped up Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The 117-year-old tradition boasted exciting results for many high schools in central Ohio. Advertisement In Division […]

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43 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Track and Field State Tournament returned to Ohio State this weekend with a highly successful meet for central Ohio schools.

The two-day OHSAA track and field championships wrapped up Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The 117-year-old tradition boasted exciting results for many high schools in central Ohio.

In Division I, Olentangy’s C.J. Sanna, who has committed to play football at Ohio State, won discus — and it wasn’t close. The margin between first and second was more than 14 feet following Sanna’s best throw of 194 feet, 14 inches.

Bishop Watterson boys’ lacrosse looks to add to a historic year

Josiah Montgomery from Reynoldsburg won shot put, while Hilliard Davidson’s Anna Wile accomplished her goal of winning the 100m hurdles. Wile finished second in the same race in 2024.

“I fought to the end and I was really happy, tears in my eyes at the end. I can’t explain how proud I am,” Wile said.

In the girls’ 4x200m relay, Pickerington Central was chasing a second championship in three years. When Grace Alls grabbed the baton with a 100 meters to go, the Tigers were in third place. Alls still beat everyone to the line.

“With a young team — those are three sophomores over there — it’s amazing,” Alls said. “It’s such a blessing as a young team … That just was truly a blessing to be able to do what we do.”

Meredith Gaudreau surprises Monahan with NHL award

Alls wasn’t done; she later won the girls 400m race by almost a second.

Orange High School dominated the 1,600m races. Brooke Chapman backed up her state championship last year with another one winning by exactly a half second. In the next race, Orange’s Matthew Schroff won the boys’ 1,600m.

“Both of us trained really good. We’ve been really running great this season, I definitely had that in the back of my mind, we can definitely sweep this,” Chapman said.

Pickerington Central won the girls’ 4x100m relay by seven-hundredths of a second; Alyvia Mentlow from Westerville Central won the girl’s 200m with a time of 23.96; and Celia Schulte from Davidson won the girl’s 800m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.

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Direct-to-streaming releases threaten film industry; hybrid model offers a solution – The Daily Eastern News

Luke Brewer (Rob Le Cates) Ever since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, the conversation revolving around the death of cinema has been at an all-time high. The question of what’s been killing cinema has long been debated with no one true answer, as there are multiple culprits ranging from unnecessary sequels to live-action remakes. Still, […]

Published

48 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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Ever since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, the conversation revolving around the death of cinema has been at an all-time high.

The question of what’s been killing cinema has long been debated with no one true answer, as there are multiple culprits ranging from unnecessary sequels to live-action remakes. Still, there is one answer that has slipped past people’s minds: direct-to-streaming releases.

Direct-to-streaming is the term used to describe when a movie skips a theatrical release and arrives immediately on streaming services like Netflix, the most recent streaming service to be guilty of direct-to-streaming.

Netflix has hosted an event every year since 2021 called Tudum—named after the Netflix logo’s sound—where the streaming service previews what is coming to Netflix in the future by showcasing new trailers or talking with actors.

At Tudum 2025, two movies I’ve had my eye on for at least a year were given updates. Those two movies are Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein.”

Both movies got teasers at the event that revealed they will release on December 12 and November, respectively, but they both won’t receive theatrical releases.

Johnson’s new film being direct-to-streaming doesn’t surprise me as the previous movie in the franchise, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” was also a direct-to-streaming release.

However, the original movie in the franchise, titled “Knives Out,” did have a theatrical release.

Johnson isn’t at fault for this being a direct-to-streaming release, as he previously said in May that he wanted “Wake Up Dead Man” to be in as many theaters as possible, according to an interview he had with Business Insider.

Looking back on Johnson’s statement of, “We’re going to push for everything we can get in terms of theatrical because I want as many people as possible to see it in that form,” things didn’t age well.

Del Toro had a similar experience as his last film, “Pinocchio” also was a direct-to-streaming release, and he has expressed his love for film and movie theaters on various occasions.

These films being direct-to-streaming releases is a problem because Netflix has a small audience compared to theaters.

That being said, there is a counterargument to be made regarding both “Glass Onion” and “Pinocchio” having limited theatrical releases and how that means they are reaching that larger audience.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Looking at “Pinocchio” for example, the film was allowed a limited theatrical release a month before the film’s release date on Netflix.

That sounds like plenty of time for the movie to reach people outside of streaming, but the key word of “limited” in “limited theatrical release” is being forgotten.

By limiting the theatrical release, the movie is set back from the start as the theaters the film occurs in are usually in places the common moviegoer can’t reach.

So yes, it’s good that it’s in a theater, but I can’t afford to fly out to New York City or Los Angeles for the theatrical release.

With no official word about “Wake Up Dead Man” or “Frankenstein” having theatrical releases, it’s safe to assume they won’t be receiving any this time around.

Netflix is a giant in the streaming service industry, but two films aren’t going to kill cinema alone.

Instead, it’s the precedent Netflix is setting of normalizing not having theatrical releases that will continue to kill the industry.

Netflix’s decision to do no theatrical releases makes sense from a business standpoint as they are competing with all the other streaming services for subscribers and having films exclusive to Netflix helps sway people to subscribe.

So, if no theatrical release is a problem and Netflix doing direct-to-streaming is a good business move, what’s the solution?

Thankfully, it’s already happened but only once thanks to the Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow.”

“Black Widow” originally released in theaters July 9, 2021 and on Disney+ the same day with Premier Access, which costs a bit extra compared to the normal subscription.

This hybrid release from Disney solved both problems as it allowed the normal theatrical release to occur as well as giving Disney+ an edge in the streaming service competition.

While this would solve those problems, new ones appear, such as a much lower box office release and some contracts not giving fair compensation as a result, which happened with “Black Widow’s” hybrid release that led to a lawsuit against Disney from Black Widow lead Scarlett Johansson.

If the hybrid release was altered to be a separate fee specifically to watch a certain movie on the streaming service at the same time as the theatrical release and contracts with those involved with the movie both in the behind-the-scenes and on-screen realms, accounted for this, the hybrid solution would be the best solution going forward.

This hybrid approach isn’t something that will likely occur again, as no corporation wants to deal with lawsuits, which is something that terrified all the other corporations after the Johansson lawsuit.

So, unless another solution presents itself, we’re all going to be forced to watch the film industry squabble for decades to come and slowly wither away.

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