Is Netflix’s Pursuit of Quality Movies the Exact Opposite of What Its Audience Wants?
Netflix is refocusing its movie studio to concentrate more on awards-bait and other high-quality films, but is that what its audience wants?
There were signs of life in negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and major Hollywood studios this week. A new deal between the union and producers would mean that TV and movie production houses like Netflix could get back to the business of making content, and when that happens, Netflix has some big changes in mind for the future of its movie slate.
- Netflix is shifting gears in its movie production goals, focusing less on producing a huge variety of films and more on improving the quality of those films.
- The streamer already has a film generating awards buzz this year, but an examination of its past film success reveals quality is not the most important factor for its audience.
- Only time will tell for sure, but Netflix’s switch to a quality-over-quantity approach could be a misevaluation of its subscribers’ wants.
Are Rotten Tomatoes Scores More Important than Views?
Once SAG-AFTRA gets a deal that it finds fair, Netflix cameras can begin rolling again on its lineup of original films. But those movies could look quite different in the future than they have previously, especially when it comes to quality, however that is defined. Netflix head of film Scott Stuber spoke about the changes in Netflix’s film production strategy this week, saying that the company no longer had to make movies just for the sake of making movies, in an effort to raise its profile as a fledgling film studio.
At one point, Netflix bragged about releasing a new movie every week of the year as a way to keep customers engaged with the platform, but also to minimize the streamer’s reliance on licensed titles, which could — and most often would — leave after the initial contractual period expired. Because of this need to regularly turn out movies at an alarming rate, admittedly, the quality suffered at times.
“So you have to ask yourself, ‘What is your business model?’,” Stuber said. “And for a while it was just making sure that we had enough. We needed volume … A lot of streaming companies made the mistake of moving so fast that we made a lot of things that weren’t ready to be produced. I want to avoid that.”
This does not mean that Netflix will exclusively be producing awards-bait films that purposely appeal only to the movie-going intelligentsia. Instead, the stated goal is to make sure that they only invest in the best possible projects across genres.
“Right now, we’re not trying to hit a set number of film releases. It’s about ‘Let’s make what we believe in,’” Stuber said. “And let’s actually put forth a slate that we can stand behind and say, ‘This is the best version of a romantic comedy. This is the best version of a thriller. This is the best version of a drama.’”
The changes to Netflix’s tactics are already apparent, as a number of high-profile films have been scrapped over the summer thanks to its the writers and actors strikes. A potential franchise based on the He-Man universe was abandoned as was a new rom-com from Nancy Meyers. We will also see Netflix’s focus on quality this fall in the upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro.” Critics are giving the movie sparkling reviews, and its current Rotten Tomatoes score is 84%; the timing of its release and the high marks from reviewers almost guarantee — not to mention its A-list star and director Bradley Cooper — the movie will get serious awards consideration when the Oscars roll around.
“I’m excited about our next wave of things,” Stuber said in a recent interview with Variety. “Many of these projects show that we can be a space for big, broad pieces of entertainment.”
This is not the first time that a Netflix film has found itself in the middle of an awards season. With films like “Roma,” “The Irishman,” “Don't Look Up,” “The Power of the Dog,” and more, the world’s largest streamer has regularly found itself with some of the most critically acclaimed movies in a given season. However, the streaming studio has yet to take home a Best Picture Oscar, and the awards-favorite films rarely end up having long-lasting impacts on audiences.
Other presumed high-quality films coming from Netflix in the coming months include the biopic “Nyad,” starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster; Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore’s soapy drama “May December”; and the civil rights drama “Rustin,” starring Colman Domingo and produced by Barack and Michelle Obama.
Will Netflix’s Audience Respond to Better Quality?
It’s reasonable to wonder whether or not the shift to a quality-focused approach is in line with Netflix’s customer needs. Its users have already registered their opinions as to which Netflix original films they prefer, as evidenced by Netflix’s own global top-10 list of all-time movie releases. Films like “Red Notice” and “The Gray Man” dominate the list, and the only movie to even receive awards consideration was “Don't Look Up,” which received four Oscar and four Golden Globe nominations.
This is not to argue that the most popular Netflix originals thus far have not been good movies, despite the fact that half the titles have a “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes. That simply means that they weren’t critical darlings, but their viewership statistics suggest that they’re exactly the kind of movies that Netflix audiences want to see.
Given that information, Netflix is clearly taking a bit of a risk that its audience will follow it as it switches its focus from quantity to quality. If movies like “Maestro” aren’t able to crack their way into the Netflix top-10 list, despite the star and awards buzz generated, the company may have to evaluate its decision to put greater emphasis on prestige pictures.
It’s up to Netflix users to show the company what they want. If they respond by flocking to “Maestro” and the new David Lynch movie “The Killer,” which premieres Nov. 10 on the streamer, it could be read as an early vindication of Netflix’s evolution in filmmaking. If they do not, it could be a sign that Stuber has misread the Netflix audience in his pursuit of higher quality original movies.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.