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Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

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Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#61

Post by unsupp0rted »

cs702 wrote: post #2

For a while, before Jassy became CEO, people at the company would sometimes jokingly refer to Amazon Studios as "the loss leader for Bezos's sex life." Now that subscriber growth is slowing down at most streaming services, the end of the "golden age of TV" is at hand. Welcome to the "bean-counting age of TV," in which streaming services try to milk subscribers for as much as possible without pissing them off too much…

I have the opposite perspective: studios will stop looking for ways to give audiences what they don’t want (and stop calling them toxic for not wanting it).

People are voting with their wallets. Hollywood in the 90s was much better at entertaining people and therefore much better at getting their money.

Studios will start making shows with good writing again. Apple TV often already is, with some glaringly bad exceptions like Foundation and parts of Ted Lasso season 3. Severance, for example, is good enough on its own for me to pay for the whole subscription.

Making entertaining and thought-provoking original content, without calling their audience sexists or racists when the writing or casting misses the mark, will be profitable and that profit will fund the next wave of prestige tv.

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#62

Post by dijit »

iamleppert wrote: post #50

It’s about time that tech companies go in and clean up Hollywood. There needs to be a year of efficiency imposed on these spendthrifts. The Hollywood elite needs to be held accountable, if they are not delivering ROI and maximizing shareholder value. It should not cost so much for a TV show or movie. YouTubers with more views are producing hit after hit with nothing more than an iPhone these days. Directors should st…

Wow, this is really on the line, I can't quite tell if you're being sarcastic or not.

For the sake of it not being sarcasm; obviously it's my belief that not everything (especially entertainment of all things) should be seen through the lens of purely making money. I am quite sure there are dozens and dozens of people who will disagree with me -- but it's always been my belief that Art that covers it's own costs and leaves its mark on humanity and history is a much greater success than making money hand-over-fist.

The game industry is really straddling the line with this and has been for quite a substantial amount of time, it's a war between MBAs and creatives, though even Sony recognises the need for creative freedom and does not expect a substantial profit on their games. (though I suppose their incentives are different, great games boost sales of the consoles which gives them greater market share)

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#63

Post by thebooktocome »

andsoitis wrote: post #47
thebooktocome wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software intellectual property is (for better or worse) primarily enshrined in patents, which have a limited exclusive lifetime. The content industry’s intellectual property is primarily enshrined in copyright, whose exclusive lifetime greatly outstrips most human lifespans. It’s not contradictory to be for the first and against the second.

Are you for software patents? I find it more palatable to be for copyright than for software patents.

No, I’m personally against all forms of intellectual property but that’s far outside the mainstream.

The position I describe above is consistent, though. And widely held.

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#64

Post by ncallaway »

cs702 wrote: post #2

For a while, before Jassy became CEO, people at the company would sometimes jokingly refer to Amazon Studios as "the loss leader for Bezos's sex life." Now that subscriber growth is slowing down at most streaming services, the end of the "golden age of TV" is at hand. Welcome to the "bean-counting age of TV," in which streaming services try to milk subscribers for as much as possible without pissing them off too much…

I’m worried about when they start dropping monthly plans in an attempt to stop people from rotating between different streaming platforms.

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#65

Post by birdymcbird »

malfist wrote: post #12
xyst wrote: post #6

Interesting. I always thought of Prime Video and Amazon Studios as loss leaders. Also they were investing so much into the studio as to become the dominant leader in 20 yrs as they streamline the process and pump out IP more efficiently (similar to AWS). Seems like they are going backwards or current CEO doesn’t have the backbone to make it happen.

Full disclosure: disgruntled amazon employee It seems like lately a lot of our CEO's decisions lack backbone or conviction. It seems like he go the role of CEO by yes-maning Bezos (See brain double quote here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/technology/andy-jassy-ama... ) A lot of the decisions made by our CEO lately have been justified with "not invented here" logic. Announcements for both RTO and layoffs have be…

this is amazon culture since beginning. decision making federated to director level or VP organization and s-team only step in on bigger goal.

rto not even top 3 company problem though. main issue is fast pace culture that had its own problem with retention now turned into lazy, cancerous zombie.

-performance bar lowered at all levels.

-management layers overrun by hires from failing companies.

i left after 10 years. tech stopped hiring innovators. it simply h1b wagon..people who do exactly as told because they afraid of PIP and having to move back to india. the other class of worker is a politician from some company like ibm. from ibm, they bring EXTREME culture of politics and empire building.

my theory that amazon leadership know this biggest business risk. any rto policy to get these people to quit without severance. amazon leadership know problem so bad they will risk strong talent.

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#66

Post by bobthepanda »

Tagbert wrote: post #33
bobthepanda wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on what you like, but there is stuff out there. And the pirating is easier because good content is spread so thinly across platforms. Personally, I enjoy comedies and cooking, and those have done right. I’m kind of over the dramatic HBO-style experience.

Comedies and Cooking are pretty cheap to produce so they are under less pressure. Hmmm.... I wonder if a comedy series about cooking would bring in viewers? :-)

The anime Food Wars is basically this, satirizing Iron Chef style shows and anime.

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#67

Post by happymellon »

malchow wrote: post #46
hgdfhgfdhgdf wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fortunately, capitalism ensures you will have other choices besides Amazon.

Or the choice to buy no tv content at all, a choice that our less-capitalist forefathers in the UK do not have !

I'm not sure I understand.

As someone in the UK, I can buy a subscription to Amazon Prime Video, or not, I can buy a subscription to Netflix, or not. I can pay for a BBC licence so I can watch iPlayer, or not.

I can watch free TV on ITVx or Channel 4 switching a subscription for adverts.

What do I not have?

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#68

Post by crop_rotation »

theonlybutlet wrote: post #31
lockhouse wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everything else, I will pirate without guilt. Are you unwilling or unable to pay for the remaining content you plan to consume? I’ve never understood how flippant HN is about piracy. The entire tech industry is built on intellectual property.

Yes the tech industry is built on intellectual property but the movie/TV industry is built on false scarcity. The music industry used to follow this model until the advent of Spotify. We had a brief time at the advent of streaming where it looked like Movie/TV was going this way, but they reversed course. I have a Netflix subscription, if you want a cut of that subscription, by all means show your content on Netflix…

This makes no sense. The entire software industry is also built on false scarcity (that is how it has managed to offer so many high paying jobs). Your same argument could be rewritten for software in the same way.

I have a subscription, if you want a cut of that subscription, by all means show your on and I'll it there. Add it to or whatever too, but I'm not maintaining ten subscriptions.

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#69

Post by dijit »

hgdfhgfdhgdf wrote: post #53
malchow wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the choice to buy no tv content at all, a choice that our less-capitalist forefathers in the UK do not have !

It is indeed quite telling that our less-capitalist forefathers in the UK do not produce streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.

That's not strictly true, there are plenty of streaming services that come out of the UK but they are tailored for the UK market; BritBox being the most prominent.

The parent was making a jibe at the TV License which is mandatory if you own a tv or "streaming capable device" (because the BBC can stream now.. sigh).

Re: Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio to Explain Its Big Spending

#70

Post by happymellon »

hgdfhgfdhgdf wrote: post #53
malchow wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the choice to buy no tv content at all, a choice that our less-capitalist forefathers in the UK do not have !

It is indeed quite telling that our less-capitalist forefathers in the UK do not produce streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.

Like Dave, NowTV and Britbox?
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