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Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

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Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they realized a few years back that HBO, Disney and the other major IP holders will be pulling out entirely and setting up their own streaming services, not because Netflix didn't give them a big enough cut of the pie, but simply because they saw how well Netflix did and realized that tech was no longer an issue they'd work hard to resolve in 2020+. Once Netflix saw that on the horizon, they went into panic m…

These last few years have been fantastic for show developers, screen writers, and anyone in series development, as all the new streaming services are literally trying to buy the talent to make their services successful.

The land grab cycle is always the best time if you’re the thing trying to be acquired.

In the early days of Uber it was a dream. Free and massively discounted rides all the time.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#382
post #346

“Content is King” We all know this, Netflix knows this. And yet for some reason for years they have been aiming for quantity and not quality. Money is not enough in this department and baseball metaphors don’t do justice illustrating just how hard it is to put together a team that has that special thing going on. Some would argue it’s impossible - teams like the one behind Better Call Saul are just extremely rare and…

Nobody knows how to reliably create "quality"--the definition of which will vary by person. Take a dozen of the top quality series on Netflix or streaming services generally and I'll probably be meh on at least half of them. Add to that the fact that for many, TV, whether streaming or otherwise, is essentially background and they'll immediately cancel your service if all they have is a relative handful of prestige mu…

> Nobody knows how to reliably create "quality"--the definition of which will vary by person.

Try different things. Don't be afraid to experiment. Don't be afraid to fail. Do things nobody's ever done before. Create new trends. Hire professionals so that every scene gives the users some level of satisfaction in terms of plot and aesthetics. For example, in a good comedy, each scene (if not each line) should at least bring the corners of your mouth slightly up.

Instead, Netflix is doing the opposite: recycle, recycle, recycle. This is maybe fine for some genres like romantic comedies for Netflix-and-chill, you kind of expect everything but it doesn't bother you. But for the rest, Netflix has become a symbol of mediocrity to the point that I explicitly choose only movies/shows without the N letter on them.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#383
post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any examples?

It is really funny to see comments like GP while netflix hosts Chappelle, tells its workers to leave if they don't want to work on projects they disagree with [1], and gets praised for it by the likes of republicans like Musk [2] who claim to be about free speech and what have you until they turn techno-fascist [3]. [1] https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2022/05/15/netf... [2] https://www.businessinsider.co…

If anything this validates those complaints. They are course correcting. Wouldn’t need a memo like that if their content wasn’t leaning to one side.

The only reason Chapelle is on Netflix is because one of the CEOs is a huge fan. There was a lot of internal pushback.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that Netflix is failing because of identity politics is just ridiculous and doesn’t hold up to even the slightest examination. It’s just another reactionary talking point that feels right enough for people to not examine it.

I know multiple people which complained about it and made them unsubscribe (none from the USA, so these topics are neither interesting nor on topic for any of us) It was definitely a contributing factory that's for sure.

For it to really be that big of a factor you’d have to explain a) why it hasn’t been a factor before now (did Netflix suddenly become “woke” this quarter? Doubtful) and b) why haven’t other streamers like Disney+ and HBO Max had similar declines? Are they less woke? By what quantifiable measure? (e.g. Disney has warnings at the start of old movies about how racist they are, it was a whole controversy a few months ago)

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#385
post #200

I’m bored of Netflix. They have simply gone the assembly line direction instead of the direction of art, at least for some big niches. For example, every True Crime docuseries on Netflix is the same crap. Once you’ve seen three, you’ve seen them all. They get each cop involved in a big empty room, sit them on a solitary chair, put a dramatic light above them, and shoot them in 4k. Then they direct it at a pace to bor…

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Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#386
post #200

I’m bored of Netflix. They have simply gone the assembly line direction instead of the direction of art, at least for some big niches. For example, every True Crime docuseries on Netflix is the same crap. Once you’ve seen three, you’ve seen them all. They get each cop involved in a big empty room, sit them on a solitary chair, put a dramatic light above them, and shoot them in 4k. Then they direct it at a pace to bor…

> There must be thousands of talented directors who haven’t been given their big break yet who have artistic ideas and would almost work for free to be given a chance to make a name for themselves. You're assuming the general population wants artistic, fresh ideas rather than the same re-hashed tried & true stuff. Disney pretty clearly proves rehashing the exact same thing over and over again is a never ending gold m…

> Disney pretty clearly proves rehashing the exact same thing over and over again is a never ending gold mine.

And yet, Disney's business itself was once a brand new, revolutionary idea.

Perhaps the table stakes aren't just "making something innovative", but creating opportunities for themselves to build the next Big Thing.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Binging happens on your terms, you can stop and resume on smaller units of time (e.g. 1h for western tv shows, 20 min for anime). Worse case if you’re disrupted is you’d restart the eps you were on at a later and you’d lose less than an hour of watch time. Current movies go up to 3h… I see as the same paradox as people watching Tiktok shorts for hours. Yes, in aggregate it could be more than several movies stuck toge…

> you can stop and resume on smaller units of time You can pause a movie? I don’t always watch a movie in one go.

I've been starting and early stopping many 10-episodes series because of how much they drag (looking at you, Servant, and Disney series). Maybe I became more impatient lately, idk.

My new hobby is watching movies as they were 4-episodes series. It's great, much more to the point.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#388
Netflix's algorithms are very good at offering interesting content for a short period of time, like a few weeks.

Even when I'm crunching at work and can only watch Netflix a few hours a week, I end up running out of interesting content.

What follows is several weeks where I find out some movie or show that was released last year is not available on Netflix yet, or some old stuff is not available.

Eventually Netflix release some decent content, which temporarily fixes their APIs responses. Rinse and repeat.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> shoot them in 4k What’s the issue with 4k?

4K is not the issue. The issue is that they achieved a standard style of filming that is entirely unremarkable, and the only thing they have going for them is the fact that the image is crystal clear. Competently shot 4K has a certain aura of legitimacy.

I always thought that when the likes of David Attenborough get awards for their natural world documentaries - the award should really go to the camera makers Arriflex, Red etc. who enable the gorgeous footage.

Re: Netflix’s bad habits have caught up with it

#390

“Content is King” We all know this, Netflix knows this. And yet for some reason for years they have been aiming for quantity and not quality. Money is not enough in this department and baseball metaphors don’t do justice illustrating just how hard it is to put together a team that has that special thing going on. Some would argue it’s impossible - teams like the one behind Better Call Saul are just extremely rare and…

Netflix is 'all you can eat', and all you can eat is about quantity ('good enough'). Also, it is a given you are not going to like/want everything. The quantity is in such abundance that they try to please everyone somewhat. I suppose you could call it spreading.
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