Netflix To Bring More Original Content Rather Than Films

Netflix has been focusing on self-produced content for a long time and has enjoyed great success with it. This at least applies to series, because the success and hit rate for films is surprisingly poor. A new boss is supposed to bring about a turnaround in the film division.

Netflix needs exclusive content

Since the beginning of the big streaming boom, the services have relied primarily on exclusive and self-produced content. Licensed content from large media companies was once a given at Netflix and Co., but now every service or competitor has to ensure that it has enough series, films and shows.

This worked out well for Netflix; the streaming market leader also pumped enormous amounts of money into its own productions. Only “partly” because the service doesn’t have anywhere near the same success with films as it does with series. Because while many users immediately associate productions like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Crown or The Witcher with Netflix, most people will have problems even naming a Netflix Originals film.

Dan Lin, Netflix’s new film boss, wants to change that and, according to a report in the New York Times, has already started restructuring his new department. He has already laid off 15 of the 150 employees in this division, including several high-ranking managers. Lin has reorganized them into genres; previously they were sorted according to budget.

The new boss has hinted that Netflix no longer wants to be the home for expensive but interchangeable action films. Instead, he intends to raise the overall quality of productions and provide more genre diversity. In this way, Lin also wants to better meet the different interests of the 260 million subscribers.

The NYT further writes that the payment and the deals should be handled differently. In the future there will no longer be huge advance payments. “In other words: the age of austerity at Netflix is ​​in full swing,” the newspaper concluded.