Just over a week after thousands of TV and film writers formed a picket line, Netflix is feeling the heat.
Late Wednesday night, Netflix abruptly announced that it was canceling a major Manhattan showcase for advertisers next week.Instead of in-person events held at legendary locations paris theateris being leased to the streaming company, but Netflix said the presentation will be virtual.
Hours earlier, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he would not be attending the PEN American Literary Celebration, the literary flagship event at the Museum of Natural History on May 18. He was to be honored alongside ‘Saturday Night Live’ famous Lorne Michaels. Sarandos said in his statement: He explained that he withdrew for the following reasons A potential demo could overshadow the event.
“Given the threat of disrupting this great evening, I cannot stand in the way of the important work PEN America is doing for writers and journalists, as well as the celebration of my friend and personal hero Lorne Michaels. I thought it best to withdraw so as not to,” he said. “I hope tonight will be a great success.”
The one-two punch of Netflix’s cancellation highlights how the streaming giant has emerged as an advocate for screenwriters’ grievances. Writers, represented by affiliated chapters of the Writers Guild of America, say that despite the explosive growth in television production in recent years, the streaming age has eroded working conditions and stagnated wages, and most of them are online. He said it was Flix’s fault.
The WGA had been in talks with the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance, which negotiates on behalf of all major Hollywood studios, including Netflix, but talks broke down last week. Writers went on strike on May 2, but talks have not resumed, with Hollywood bracing for a lengthy production hiatus.
Last week, at a summit in Los Angeles the day after the strike was called, one of the participants asked union leaders which studios were the worst environments for screenwriters. WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman and Writers Negotiating Committee chairman David Goodman said in unison, “Netflix.” A crowd of 1,800 writers laughed and applauded, according to people who attended that night, who asked not to be identified because of the strike’s confidentiality.
In 2007, the last time writers went on strike, Netflix was just a DVD mailing company with a fledgling streaming service. But over the past decade, Netflix has produced hundreds of original shows, helped usher in the streaming age, and transformed the entertainment industry in the process.
Initially, Netflix was cheered on by the creative community for producing so many shows and offering so many opportunities.
Demonstrations over the past week have highlighted just how frustrated writers are with the company. In Los Angeles, Netflix’s Sunset Boulevard headquarters is the center of attention for writers.The band Imagine Dragons held an impromptu concert In front of hundreds of demonstrators on Tuesday. A writer took to social media this week to say he needs more picketers outside Universal’s premises. lamenting that “Everybody wants to party on Netflix” instead.
On Wednesday, demonstrators marched outside the headquarters in droves. There was a sign that read, “Ted Sarandos is my father and I hate him.” Another said, “I shared my Netflix password. It’s Pay Me!”
As screenwriters marched, veteran TV writer Peter Hume pasted a bill on the picket that said, ‘Cancel until a deal’ and ‘Cancel Netflix until a fair deal is done’. rice field.
Hume, who has worked on shows like “Charmed” and “Flash Gordon: A Modern Space Opera,” has dismantled the system that streaming giants have trained writers to grow into sustainable and fulfilling careers. said he had a responsibility to
“I’ve been with the company for 26 years and haven’t had a job in the last four years because it’s too expensive,” Hume said. “It’s mostly because Netflix broke that model. I think they put all their money into the production budget of the streaming wars and took it away from the writers.”
Netflix’s decision to cancel its in-person showcase for marketers next week caught many in the entertainment and advertising industries off guard.
The company will join the so-called Upfront line-up, a decades-old tradition of hosting lavish events for advertisers in mid-May to help media companies boost interest in upcoming programming schedules and advertising revenue. rice field.
Netflix, which introduced a low-cost subscription service with commercials late last year, was scheduled to host its first Upfront in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday. Marketers listened intently to pitches from Netflix, which for a decade operated solely as a premium, commercial-free streaming service.
“The customer excitement level is huge because this is a great white whale,” Kelly Metz, managing director of advanced television for media buying firm Omnicom Media Group, said in an interview earlier this week. “There’s been no advertising for a long time, so it’s reach that money can’t buy, right? So having Netflix on board is very exciting for them.”
So it came as a surprise to advertisers planning to attend the presentation when they received notice from Netflix late Wednesday night that the event was going virtual.
“We look forward to sharing with you our progress and future plans regarding advertising,” the note reads. “We will share the link and details next week.”
The prospect of hundreds of demonstrators gathering outside the event apparently proved intolerable.
Other companies with pre-shows in Manhattan — NBCUniversal (Radio City Music Hall), Disney (Javits Center), Fox (Manhattan Center), YouTube (David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center), Warner Bros. Discovery (Madison Square Garden) ) and more — reporters announced on Thursday that the event would go ahead as usual, despite multiple demonstrations planned for next week.
Mr. Sarandos’ decision to withdraw from the PEN American Literary Celebration will not disrupt the event. “Saturday Night Live” Executive Producer Michaels will continue to be honored, and “Saturday Night Live” Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost will continue to serve as MC.
In a statement, Penn America said, “We commend Ted Sarandos for his singular work in translating literature into artistic expression on the screen, and for his staunch advocacy of free expression and satire.” “As a collective of writers, we are watching recent events closely and understand his decision.”
The picket line of writers has successfully sabotaged the production of some shows, including the Showtime series “Billions” and the Apple TV+ drama “Severance.” On Sunday, the MTV Movie & TV Awards became a pre-taped affair after the WGA announced it would be picketing the event. The WGA announced Thursday that Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav will picket his Commencement Address, which he plans to give on May 21 at the Boston University campus.
One of the authors’ complaints is how streaming has interfered with retention fees, a type of copyright fee. A few years ago, writers of network television shows were able to receive a balance of money each time their show was licensed, be it syndication, international broadcast, or DVD sales.
But streaming services like Netflix, which traditionally don’t license shows, have cut off those distribution arms. Instead, the service offers a fixed balance, which effectively lowers their salaries, the authors say. AMPTP, which is negotiating on behalf of the studios, announced last week that it had already offered an increase in the balance as part of the negotiations.
Outside Netflix’s Los Angeles headquarters on Wednesday, writers at the picket line expressed disappointment that the company was starting to make money from advertising.
Writer Christina Strain of Netflix’s sci-fi spectacle “Shadow and Bone” said, “If they can make money from advertising, I would guess that advertising would be a bigger source of income for them.” said. “And we’re just going to work on network television without getting paid for the network.”
Sapna Maheshwari Contributed to the report.
