April 16, 2024, 12:30 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
Changes are coming fast and furious for the well-known streamer. After announcing price hikes, Netflix plans to produce fewer films.
If you’re a streaming fan, you likely have a Netflix subscription. The service has long established itself as a market leader, offering numerous licensed or self-produced films and series. But while famous stars promise good entertainment on the user interface tiles, there’s a lot of turmoil behind the scenes. Soon, users will receive a significantly altered offering, as Netflix plans to produce fewer films than before.
Netflix with Fewer Films–for Less Money
This is now evident from a new New York Times report. It reveals that Dan Lin is a new key figure who will steer the streaming service’s film division. His mission: to initiate fewer films for Netflix and, among other things, reduce costs.
He has already laid off about 15 senior staff and restructured the film division: Previously organized by different budget levels, it is now organized by genres. This means a stronger focus on content. As Lin reportedly suggested in the article, Netflix no longer wants to be just the home of big and expensive action blockbusters like “Red Notice” with Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds.
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Quality Over Quantity for Netflix Films
Instead, Lin has been tasked with improving the quality of Netflix’s own films, which should cost less overall and appear less frequently. At the same time, projects that now get the green light should have a broader range of content. This aims to better address the diverse interests of the audience.
To achieve this, the reorganized film division at Netflix is expected to take a more aggressive role in production and develop more original content, according to some insider sources. Previously, the approach was more passive, with new projects being brought to the streamer from outside.
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Whether Netflix’s plan will succeed remains to be seen. Initial reactions from the industry are mixed. Until now, the company has pampered renowned filmmakers and stars with creative freedom, generous budgets, and fees–aspects that someone like director legend Martin Scorsese recently did not receive from traditional film studios. He realized his much-discussed “The Irishman” for a lot of money at Netflix but then had to fight for a theatrical release.
Netflix remains cautious when it comes to theaters. While they like to showcase prestigious productions, partly because they aim for renowned film awards like the Oscars (for which the big screen is a prerequisite), this doesn’t apply to all titles. With lower budgets now on the horizon, some producers and artists already believe that Netflix is no longer the best choice for distribution. This also includes considering changing the payment model for filmmakers: Instead of large sums upfront, future fees could be tied to the film’s success.
Scorsese has already moved to AppleTV+ and others are leaving the platform or complaining: Director Edward Berger, who made the four-time Oscar-winning war drama “All Quiet on the Western Front” for Netflix, is reportedly dissatisfied with budget constraints for his next project. Other projects, meanwhile, are no longer being pursued by Netflix.
Hope for Mid-Size Productions
Currently, it still seems that for those in charge at Netflix, theaters will remain secondary. According to an industry insider, the pandemic has shown that films released exclusively on a streaming service receive significantly less attention than those with a regular theatrical release.
Nevertheless, many within the industry are strongly betting on the new strategy. Due to increasing consolidations, creators of smaller or mid-size films have fewer and fewer buyers for their works. The major studios are less interested in their production than before, which is why there is hope that Netflix, due to its new orientation, will continue to provide a home for such films.