Posted by Jinnistan  8/04/2022 9:56 pm | #1 |
Maybe we've all seen some of the news. I don't really care about Batgirl or (haha) the House Party reboot with LeBron James. This isn't about any case-by-case production decisions. Rather, what's happening in the wake of the Warner Brothers & Discovery merger, vis a vis the recent impact that we're seeing on HBO programming, seems like one of those faraway flashes on the horizon that makes one intuitively understand that now would be a good time to run for cover. Or maybe it's just me. But what it looks like, specifically reading both quotes by and about new WB president David Zaslav, is that this major production platform is shutting down a ton of productions which are not "guaranteed" to make massive profits. I hear that they may even be moving to unscripted material, to shave costs from expensive talent like writers and professional actors. Basically what we've seen in television networks in the last few years - reality shows, game shows and reality game shows.
So what's new, asks the cynic? Well, HBO has long been venerated as the source for a lot of programming that is more quality, sophisticated, mature, and definitely in defiance of easy marketing. Although, yes, I have to acknowledge that post-Game of Thrones (arguably none of the above, but not the kind of material that anyone else would have considered a safe investment in 2011), there's been a vacuum that HBO has been unable to fill. But it's also very telling that Zaslov wants WB to move back to theatrical releases, at the expense of non-theatrical material that can prove profitable via streaming algorithms. It probably doesn't help that the exemplar of the latter business model, Netflix, is suffering a lull of their own, though I'd argue that much of this is due to their sever downsizing of their legacy catalogue. And 4 out of 5 of their originals are pretty awful, but on the other hand we have three Netflix productions at Venice right now - from George Miller, Andrew Dominik and Noah Baumbach - that I'm very happy to have and doubtful that any other studio would have completed.
Basically, everything about what I'm hearing about Zaslov screams catering to the lowest common denominator as the default creative compass. Clearly this won't bode well for any upcoming WB theatrical slate either. And more significantly, I think this will have a domino effect on the other studios and streaming services, the latter which were a hopeful promise in taking up the slack for mid and low-budget productions. I think that this is a potentially disaterous trend from those bean-counting eggheads whose business is not discerning qualitative differences in "content creation".
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Posted by Rock 8/04/2022 10:30 pm | #2 |
I'm not a tax accountant, but it's still insane to me that it can be considered more profitable to not release a completed film and use it as a tax write-off instead of releasing it and having it do I would assume at least respectable numbers, given that it's a fucking Batman movie. Even one that underperforms I assume would make back its budget.
I am not above abusing mod powers for my own amusement.
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Posted by Jinnistan 8/04/2022 11:01 pm | #3 |
Rock wrote:
I'm not a tax accountant, but it's still insane to me that it can be considered more profitable to not release a completed film and use it as a tax write-off instead of releasing it and having it do I would assume at least respectable numbers, given that it's a fucking Batman movie. Even one that underperforms I assume would make back its budget.
Part of the troubling part, for me, is the word (which is conflicting based on the source) that the film's quality did not factor into the decision. And that makes sense, considering, you know, the more liberal appraoch to quality that WB has given to (at least some of) their DC releases. It smacks of setting quite a profit throttle that suggests that any and all marketing risks are out the window. It's not just about Batgirl, it's about the floor for what they're willing to take a chance on, and it's looking pretty exclusive.
Last edited by Jinnistan (8/04/2022 11:01 pm)
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Posted by crumbsroom 8/05/2022 2:00 pm | #4 |
Maybe this is the full tilt towards creative Armageddon that finally gets people wondering if maybe they can look for more in what they watch. Maybe at some point even the lowest common denominator (well, maybe not the absolute lowest or most common) throw their hands up in the air and think they are worth more than this.
Probably not, but maybe this could be the opening for lower budget fair to start finding wider audiences, simply from desperation for something or anything that has been test marketed to shit before they can even get within sniffing distance of it.
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Posted by Jinnistan 8/05/2022 10:56 pm | #5 |
Maybe this is the full tilt towards creative Armageddon that finally gets people wondering if maybe they can look for more in what they watch. Maybe at some point even the lowest common denominator (well, maybe not the absolute lowest or most common) throw their hands up in the air and think they are worth more than this.
Probably not, but maybe this could be the opening for lower budget fair to start finding wider audiences, simply from desperation for something or anything that has been test marketed to shit before they can even get within sniffing distance of it.
I'm hoping for a backfire, or maybe some slack taken up by Amazon or someone. There was a point made on the other place about Clint Eastwood, who WB has just broken a 50 year association, that Clint can easily find another studio to finance his films, which tend to be reasonable budgets with modest returns (exactly the kind of business Zaslov has shunned), and that's likely true for Clint Eastwood, but I'm more concerned about smaller, lesser known modest business filmmakers.
I hope that all of these (anonymous mostly) murmurings about Zaslov being reported is an indication that this schumck has few friends and is one flop away from getting shown the door. But unfortunately, as with all of the entertainment industries, they tend to be run by absolute monsters.
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Posted by Rampop II 1/30/2023 3:28 am | #6 |
Netflix is about to make good on that password–sharing crackdown:
"You may have less than 10 weeks left to let your mom, brother, or anyone else outside your home use your Netflix login for free"
