By A new feature piece in N+1 Magazine has gone into the history of Netflix and the quality of a good deal of stuff released there – especially in terms of movies.
The big takeaway from the report that has gotten people talking though is a key few paragraphs which spoke with several screenwriters who’ve worked for the streamer.
They indicated that a common note from company executives is to “have this character announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this program on in the background can follow along.”
They cite an example from the Lindsay Lohan-led “Irish Wish” film in which Lohan’s character basically recounts to her lover their previous day together and then the pair explain plot threads already shown.
This is one of their many microgenres called ‘casual viewing’ – described as movies that “go down best when you’re not paying attention,” the kind of content that can be played in the background while doing other things.
It’s hardly exclusive to that streamer either. Another fun quote comes from a former Amazon Studios executive which talks about how streamers withhold viewership data. The exec says:
“The number of things that tank on Amazon is remarkable. There are so many things that people hardly watch and it would be embarrassing to release those streaming numbers. I used to get this daily email, which basically said, ‘here are the one hundred movies that people are watching most on Amazon SVOD today by the minute.’ It was always a lot of Tom Cruise sci-fi movies, action movies from the ’90s and aughts, and Talladega Nights.”
Head over to NPlusOneMag.com for the full story.
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