Netflix is still going to wave its chequebook around, but it’ll be making fewer movies itself in future. More here:
During the initial land rush for Netflix as it was building its service up, Netflix wasn’t shy about bringing in movies from pretty much anywhere. It licensed hit blockbusters from movie studios, even when it started making films of its own. And it’s only as more and more studios got into the streaming game that it started to pivot.
Understandably so, as well. Now that the likes of Disney, Warner Bros and Paramount have streaming services of their own, they’ve been less inclined to share their films and shows with Netflix. Furthermore, Netflix pushed up the price of making films for streaming by investing megabucks in, at one stage, making a film every week.
But the boss of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, has conceded that times have changed again. That its output of self-made movies has declined, as studios have become more open to the idea of licensing their films out again.
As Sarandos told the UBS media conference that took place in New York City (we weren’t invited), “we ramped up at that kind of aggressive pace because we had no access to license films”.
Yet now that the field of streaming services seems to have settled – it’s hard to see too many more major launches in the sector – there’s the realisation that such businesses could use making a profit. As such, on the one hand you’ve got studios happier to let Netflix pay for its films. On the other, Netflix reducing its own output.
As reported by Deadline, Sarandos went on to describe this way of working as “the more natural state of the business”, presumably as opposed to everyone spending a shit-ton of money to try and outgun one another.
It doesn’t mean that Netflix is getting out of making movies of course, as its slate this Christmas has demonstrated. Just that the land rush to make its own stuff has dampened down a little.
Read more: Steaming services, price rises, and bubbles bursting
