Now this is interesting. Netflix has always used the ‘subscribers first’ model and avowed not to do what they are doing here, or at least what is being claimed in the article. Any thoughts on this move, or non-move, by the streamer?
Mind you, I hope it’s going to be at a cinema near me, and not just in the US and Canada! I’ve loved this series and it would be great to see the finale on the big screen! How about you?
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/netflix-stranger-things-fin...
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I think it's great for Netflix, creatives, and fans of the show, Geoff Hall! It's a way to get more people to sign up for Netflix, it shows creatives that Netflix is willing to release more Netflix originals in theaters (which will attract creatives to Netflix), and fans get to watch the finale on the big screen.
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Maurice Vaughan absolutely, Maurice. I just hope the release is wider than the US and Canada!
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Geoff Hall Well the about-face has become Netflix's MO. Encouraging people to share passwords, then demonizing them for doing so - vowing never to run advertising on their shows and then going full speed into it - there's more. Truth is, theatrical no longer generates the income it did at its height, and it won't ever again, but it is invaluable word of mouth. Even Netflix needs word of mouth since it has no more real estate than we do at FilmPod, or any other independent filmmaker has.
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Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg but they do probably have a bigger footfall, Shadow. How do indie producers match that?
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Geoff Hall You don't match that, not at this time. You build over time, like any other business in any other market dominated by a cartel or monopoly. Independent producers and platforms must have their own unique style and own unique titles, and should promote them direct to audience instead of giving them to studio-controlled distributors and platforms. That way there's a reason for people to come to them. That's the main reason why the major studios have all retreated from Netflix to their own platforms - you get Disney on Disney, etc. and no longer on Netflix. The logic applies even to them.
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Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg hi again, Shadow. So it comes down to the indie producers developing a slate of projects over time, which creates the ‘house’ style over time. Direct to audience. Where does that stand at the moment? Are there any proven D2A models or success stories out there, that the community here, needs to know about?
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This is a fascinating pivot. It feels like Netflix is finally acknowledging that a theatrical release isn't just a revenue stream, but a powerful marketing event that elevates the cultural status of a property. For a finale of this magnitude, putting it in theaters makes it an "event" in a way that a streaming drop alone can't.
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Geoff Hall That's a very good question. Yes, there are, but of course we are in a transitional period. It's hard to find actual filmmakers - independent streaming platforms tend to just want to be a Netflix, and of course they can't compete. And filmmakers have over the years embraced the idea that they are just a client for major studios so they don't even think of themselves as entrepreneurs (which in the first 80 or so years of the industry, we all were). However, the transition is being led by individual creators, some of whom are personalities and some of whom I would classify as filmmakers. Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson, both of whom left mainstream and now stream their own brand from their own platform. There is an open revolt by youtube channels who are going out on their own (for various reasons, mostly because they know YT cooks their stats and pays them fractions of the income they generate). Viva La Dirt League, Shawn Ryan Show and a growing list of others. It's a varied group but one thing they all have in common is that they have grown their own audience to the point that they can be heard above the noise. This is the point: they are distinctive and have developed their own brand over a number of years. I don't know of a streaming platform currently that can even do that, outside of the mainstream who of course have the decades of titles in their catalog. Having said that, our FilmPod platform has developed a structure that will do exactly that, with the Digital Box Office structure we developed at IPG. We have several projects on the slate right now which we are growing the paradigm around. Uncharted Freedom is a series that we just finished principal photography on, October 29. We are negotiating now with funders for two features to be produced in-house and two outside productions which we would co-produce.