Netflix Is Slowing Down Film Production in New Strategy

Netflix is aiming to pivot to quality over quantity.

In a Variety article Scott Stuber, the head of Netflix’s film division, laid out the new strategy.

“Right now, we’re not trying to hit a set number of film releases. It’s about ‘Let’s make what we believe in,’” Stuber said. “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.’”

What this means is that the streamer, who once claimed to be dropping a new movie every week of 2020, is that instead of pumping out 50 movies of widely varying quality throughout a year they’ll deliver around 25 that are, hopefully, over a better quality. The strategy has actually already kicked off this year with fewer releases overall and those films that have been released focused on being the best they can be in their genre. That’s led to a slew of award-worthy films like Maestro coming out but, more importantly, the cancellation of big-budget projects like Masters of the Universe as the studio starts actually looking at how much it’s spending.

This pivot comes as the streaming industry confronts its own mortality. Previously, Netflix had to create a crap ton of content quickly as studios pulled their libraries off the streamer and onto their own platforms at the turn of the decade. In order to fill the space a lot of content was needed but streaming is contracting and nearly every studio began pulling back well before Netflix. Now, the most dominant streamer is having to do the same.

“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,” Stuber said. “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.”