Post by Judy Goldberg
Netflix are massively disrupting the television production landscape, and for creative people, especially writers, their new model and attitude is very exciting and liberating.
Consider, the first thing Netflix did as a brand was to step into a marketplace dominated by a corporate giant, and not only have the nuts to take them on with a new model for distribution (DVD in the post), but they unashamedly beat them into submission.
Goodbye Blockbuster. Who would have thought a company so big could ‘miss the opportunity’ and fail?
Always innovating, always evolving, Netflix are teenagers in a mature, if not geriatric business. Blockbuster were the first geriatric business to bite the dust and others will follow for sure. Netflix remain bold, fearless, invincible, full of energy and always hungry!
And that’s exactly why all of us should be writing for them.
They take risks where no one else will
Netflix picked up fan and critic favorite show Arrested Development 7 years after it was cancelled by Fox (despite having built up a loyal audience and received 22 Emmy nominations and 6 wins). They see value where others see balance sheets.
More recently Netflix did the same thing for NBC fan favorite Community which is flourishing once more in an environment where the creatives have been given the freedom to… create.
Their original programming includes the ridiculously successful House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and this years smash hit Marvel’s Daredevil – all ground breaking, risk taking, controversial, dark, character driven and hugely watchable examples of TV making at it’s best in 2015.
In choosing it’s commissions, Netflix looks no further than the pass piles at the other major networks. If you want safe, formulaic and mundane then go write a soap. If you want to challenge yourself and your audience, if you want to innovate and push boundaries, if you want to be brave and write fresh, bold, thought provoking, risky, dark, dangerous and daring, then Netflix is the place to do it.
Transparent, produced by Amazon, is another great example of a show that would never have made it inside the old model.
Write a season, not just a pilot
If you’re writing TV for Netflix then you’re not just writing a Pilot and a bible, you’re writing a big fat entire season.
In the US at least, the Network model dictates that they commission a pilot off the strength of a series pitch; the network execs will choose whether or not to air the pilot and if you’re lucky enough to get aired, Neilsen ratings will determine how many episodes are commissioned beyond that.
Series are routinely pulled off the air after one or two episodes and the creative team (and indeed hundreds of cast and crew) live in constant fear of the dreaded cancellation call. No time is given to allow the story and characters to develop and mature. Again, short term balance sheets dictate long term strategies. Not a great business model.
Netflix on the other hand, commission, shoot and air an entire season all at once. Their model is ten episodes with the season released in it’s entirety on the same day. This capitalises on the DVD box-set buyer mentality of binge watching. This new viewing habit has revolutionized the way audiences watch TV and by proxy has further revolutionized the way that writers write TV.
It’s where the talent is
All the top writers, directors and actors are jumping on the Netflix bandwagon. The Get Down a new 13 part hip-hop drama is being written and directed by Baz Luhrmann, himself an innovator and ground breaker. Of course, it makes perfect sense that he would choose Netflix as the place to make his first venture into TV.
Tina Fey could have literally done anything with anyone after 30 Rock – she chose to take Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to Netflix. The Wachowskis, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Brad Pitt, Ashton Kutcher, Judd Apatow, Winona Ryder, Joel Schumacher, Leonardo Di-Caprio, Jodie Foster and now Baz Luhrmann are all names involved in projects that have found a home with Netflix. If these guys are all heading to Netflix with their projects then we should be too.
Success is not about Box Office and ratings
Netflix have been notoriously tight lipped about how it measures it’s success. What’s clear is that it’s not measured in the traditional ways (weekend box office figures or Nielsen ratings). Furthermore, they are not beholden to advertisers. And this is GREAT for writers because this offers a clean slate to write and create whatever we want, without having to tailor to a particular audience, demographic or market trend dictated by advertisers. Netflix are not led by Coca Cola or Nike. They remain led by ideas, concept and talent first and foremost. And they serve LOVERS OF GREAT STORIES.
Netflix has a committed audience
As a consumer, When I’m watching TV, I don’t change the channel to Netflix to see what’s on before flipping again – I make a decision, a choice to go into the walled garden of Netflix and browse.
Once I’m in Netflix (blissfully advertisement free), I’m not leaving in a hurry. I trust their judgment (and viewing algorithm), I trust their standards, I trust their quality. I’ve made a choice to be here because I know I’ll find something great. I am committed. And that is the audience we should all want to write for. A committed audience that has made the choice to watch something great and not to just surf until something catches their attention for a moment.
Netflix is also platform and technology agnostic. You do not need any specific kit and it works wherever you are. Anyone who travels on business knows the joys of logging in on your device in a hotel room that serves only local TV. Joy.
Slay the giants!
The biggest lesson we can all learn from Netflix is that we shouldn’t wait for Netflix! We should become Netflix! The industry as we once knew it is clinging on, determined not to change, while Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, YouTube and ‘The Internet’ run amok, disrupting and looking for NEW gold in the hills (and not just checking stockpiles of old gold that is rapidly diminishing.) They are also cash rich and spending it like crazy, not just lining the pockets of shareholders and fat cats. They are INVESTING in making stuff.
These new companies and are slaying the old giants with wild abandon through innovation and by SERVING THE CUSTOMER. They are fearless, impetuous, cash rich and a little crazy.
If we don’t join their movement we’ll be left behind.
So write, create your own models and content, innovate, publish, upload, take no prisoners and do whatever it takes to get your work out there and make your mark. Just like Netflix did.
We are running our two day WritingTV with Pilar Alessandra in London, with guests Gub Neal and John Yorke (who have collectively run the drama departments for biggest companies in the UK including the BBC and CH4).
More on the event HERE or sign up with the widget below.
See you at the WritingTV masterclass with the whole team HERE.
Judy Goldberg
TeamLSF
@AppleStax
Posted by a member of the London Screenwriters’ Festival team.
