The leeway that the creatives are given at Netflix is impressive. Contrast that with network TV programming and moviemaking at many other studios, which can be so controlled by business departments that non-creative executives even get involved in casting decisions and editing.<p>Brian De Palma talking about one failed project (1):<p><i>I would get stacks of notes, over and over again, from multiple sources. It’s changed. They want to be included on everything. I remember throwing executives out of the room during a reading for “Bonfire of the Vanities.” Are you kidding? I can’t have these actors performing in front of studio executives during the first reading! They claimed they wouldn’t say anything, which was nonsense. I had the same thing with the Paterno project. I said, “This is the first time Al [Pacino] has heard this material. I can’t have executives sitting here.” They were offended beyond belief — sulking, tense. I finally walked away from it. ... If you’ve seen HBO’s “Project Greenlight,” the HBO executive on that show, Len Amato — that was the guy I was dealing with. On the show, there’s Len in the editing room, making suggestions. That’s like my worst nightmare. I have never dealt with a producer in the editing room. And you can’t get final cut on television. Can you believe that Martin Scorsese doesn’t have final cut on television?</i><p>Nick Offerman (Parks and Rec) described the control that executives have over casting and other key creative decisions in his recent Fresh Air interview (2). It's depressing.<p>1. <a href="http://www.indiewire.com/2016/06/brian-de-palma-documetary-hollywood-tv-noah-baumbach-jake-paltrow-1201683547/" rel="nofollow">http://www.indiewire.com/2016/06/brian-de-palma-documetary-h...</a><p>2. <a href="https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2018/06/07/617872975" rel="nofollow">https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2018/06/07/617872975</a>
The article is really long so I've just skimmed over it, but overall I think the biggest change is the non-ad-driveness of Netflix. When I recall, how I've spent 15 minutes watching ads, for each 45 minutes of movie-time, I'm really horrified how anybody could waste their time like that. (and people still do)<p>At the same time, I think this encourages higher-quality content overall, because in standard television, the product are ad-views. You put up content only so that people watch the ads. Like clickbait articles in the internet. This is especially so, as people got used to the formula of the television dictating when to watch your movies.<p>Here they give you quality content, because the subscription payment is the actual value for them, and they know they'll lose it if you don't put up good enough content. (to keep up the analogy, it's like subscription based online magazines like NYT or nautilus, the content differs diametrically)<p>On another note, I really like the data driven approach described here. The metric of people turning off an episode of a series midways, without ever coming back to it.
> As they spend more time watching, the company can collect more data on their viewing habits, allowing it to refine its bets about future programming.<p>This is a big advantage for Netflix. Live-TV cable companies don't have the same luxury of picking and choosing specific content, as they buy all-in to a single stream of ABC's content, NBC's content, etc. If there's an NBC show you like on Thursday at 8pm EST via Comcast, you know it will be available at 7pm CST in the Midwest via, say, Mediacom. There's not that much wiggle room. Analytics isn't all that useful unless you can deliver specific content, which is exactly how Netflix works.
This article is fantastic.<p>As an American who likes the occasional UK show, I have the possibly mistaken impression that BBC shows run on a more similar model to Netflix. It seems like they will tell a story for about as long as the original idea is interesting and then the show ends.<p>In the U.S. it seems like anything popular will get milked as long as possible.<p>Oddly, it seems like even in the Netflix model there are "series" and "movie" categories that mirror film and TV running lengths and seasons.<p>It would be interesting to see more deviations from that pattern. Shorter serials with longer episodes. Marathon length features.<p>Black Mirror is the best example of a non-traditional show as far as episode length and quantity and I think it works quite well.