“What we do for filmmakers is bring them the biggest audience in the world. And then we help them make the best films of their lives. » This position taken by Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, is intended to be persuasive, but it does not convince everyone.
Indeed, for several years the general public has expressed their disappointment with certain productions on the streaming platform, while critics have also been choosy. Arriving at the start of the year, Dan Lin, who took charge of the Films division of the streaming service, intends to change the situation.
Doing more with less: a disturbing strategy
Let’s start by recalling that excellent feature films have been proposed and financed by the platform, we are thinking in particular of Rome, The Irishmanor more recently The Killer. But some in the world of cinema are not convinced and the new leader has his work cut out for him.
According to information from the agency BloombergDan Lin indicated that he wanted to produce more quality content. Netflix will therefore produce fewer films each year and will spend less on feature films with star casts. Clearly, the ambition is to do better with less money.
In detail, our colleagues indicate that the entertainment giant wants to release between 25 and 30 original feature films per year, or one every two weeks. These will cost an average of $100 million.
Some internal turmoil?
Then, once a quarter, the N-branded studio wants to create an event with a bigger budget film (around $200 million). The examples cited are not very reassuring in this regard: Rebel Moon or the continuation of Beverly Hills Cop.
Bloomberg indicates that the manager has already reduced staff and recruited chefs to manage the different genres developed. According to the American media, these developments aroused anger among “some members of the creative community and frustrated its staff. Telling your employees that their movies suck doesn’t boost morale. Cutting budgets and taking fewer big risks doesn’t make you sympathetic to talent or their representatives, especially when you’re not releasing films theatrically.”.
We will have to wait and judge on the spot to see if the quality of the feature films produced improves. It also remains to better define this term, because it sometimes does not have the same meaning for subscribers and for professionals.
