Credit: Inside the MagicA top Netflix executive has admitted what we all knew: the streaming giant doesn’t have enough quality control.
In the early 2010s, Netflix was a pioneer in streaming original content, producing shows like the political thriller House of Cards, the women’s prison comedy-drama Orange is the New Black, and a whole slate of Marvel television shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and The Defenders.
While it was considered a risky and even foolhardy move for a company that had primarily been a mail-order DVD rental service only a few years ago, Netflix original content initially paid off. The idea caught on with other production studios, and within the decade, it was considered standard practice for streaming platforms like HBO Max (now just plain Max), Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ to create original shows and movies.
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However, Netflix’s head of film, Scott Stuber, has candidly admitted that the streaming service has been focused on producing quantity of programming and not paying enough attention to the quality of its original movies and series.
By 2020, Netflix had a goal of producing approximately 50 movies a year, basically one a week. As Stuber puts it (via Variety), “We were growing a new studio. We’d only been doing this for a few years, and we were up against 100-year-old companies. So you have to ask yourself, ‘What is your business model?’ And for a while it was just making sure that we had enough. We needed volume.”
It is fair to say that Netflix original content has a large catalog of TV shows and movies, but not much of it is well remembered by viewing audiences. Now, it seems the plan is to let rival services like Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ produce increasingly expensive and poorly reviewed shows, like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
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Stuber all but admits that Netflix original content quality control was minimal and the approach has changed, saying, “Right now, we’re not trying to hit a set number of film releases. It’s about ‘Let’s make what we believe in…And let’s actually put forth a slate that we can stand behind and say, ‘This is the best version of a romantic comedy. This is the best version of a thriller. This is the best version of a drama.’”
At a time when the streaming wars have reached a fever pitch and every service is trying to constantly draw new subscribers from a finite base (even as they also jack up prices), it is probably a wise move for Netflix to be more prudent about the kind of material it puts out. The company may still be at the top of the hill right now, but Disney+ and the rest are coming fast.
Do you think Netflix puts out too many poor-quality TV shows and movies? Tell us your least favorites in the comments below!