we're hooked

Ozark S4 is up
Fantastic show

They’re sure featuring Ruth’s behind

huzzah

Dude. We’ve watched two episodes and I had the same thought. It’s so gratuitous I actually was wondering who the creeper behind the camera is.

Huzzah!

It's such a good watch.

Burned through the first seven episodes of Ozark S4. Tried to watch Archive 81 but too corny.

"What Netflix’s results have shown us recently is something more fundamentally scary for Hollywood: streaming television is going to make less money — maybe a lot less money — for entertainment companies than cable did."

https://www.ft.com/content/70f478ab-e48 ... b86b51e2de

So what

Not really sure how to respond to that. Just an interesting article about Netflix's market woes of the last few months

I just think that the only people who are really scared are the people who are used to making 6-8 figures for executive studio roles. The stars will be paid less, which I don’t give a shit about. The support roles will gravitate out to more frequent low budget productions, which will be ample because the technology allows for deeper storytelling with less productions costs. Creators will have greater equity in the development of content.

It’s Napster all over again. Taking the hundred year view, I don’t think it’s bad.

Okay but there's probably only 7-10 years left of human civilization so...

I just don't know if historically these industry-wide crises really result in the proliferation of smaller, more diverse, creator-driven projects. But rather in fewer, more expensive, "must-watch" event productions (as well as the cheapest of the cheap, which doesn't mean quirkier, small-to-mid-budget creative projects but reality TV and documentary series... both of which have an outsized presence on Netflix already)

But that’s exactly what’s happened with the music. The key difference is that musicians are now more compelled to tour to make money; or get their songs into shows and movies; or just be fine with their creative output being one facet of their income.

Sure there are differences between the two industries, but I honestly fail to see how this plays out any differently. If you’re a historically marginalized storyteller, there’s never been a better time to get your project out there. It won’t get the marketing push to win an Academy Award, but you stand a better chance of recouping costs and getting your next project funded.


I agree that, similar to streaming music, you’ll have to wade through a lot more crap to find the good stuff.

And like streaming music, the good stuff will still be plentiful; you’ll just have to get on board with new discovery mechanisms (or cling to old ones where available/applicable).

I think that comparison is fundamentally flawed due to the difference in resources (not only gear but personnel) that each artform requires. At least at the scale we're talking about here

Who streams are the highest quality video though?

I agree that physically making the thing is more accessible than ever, but securing distribution for it really isn't. The Issa Raes of the world are extremely rare cases. An overwhelming majority of the time, these projects are completed, they play at a couple film festivals, and very likely end up in extremely niche streaming services like Vix or Filmzie or FilmRise. Relegated to the platforms most people don't use, because the big streamers don't take a chance on them, and theaters are only playing the guaranteed money-makers. So they fade into obscurity and the director takes up a job editing YouTube videos for rich 20 year old gamers

But aren’t those third-rate directors still markedly better than the direct-to-video days of the 90s? Isn’t Shudder a respectable landing place for a first time director?

And it’s still early in the process. As the content wars continue, all those third-rate platforms will get consolidated, sold, and absorbed. It’s not crazy to think that someday HBO Max will have a selection pane for the very sorts of movies you’re talking about, and that standout projects will get some attention.

I just watched. I was expecting more after this post. Meh. May not have even noticed if I hadn’t read about it here first.