{"id":532026,"date":"2026-03-19T03:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T03:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/532026\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T03:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T03:14:07","slug":"netflix-execs-say-theyre-not-really-asking-creatives-to-repeat-plots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/532026\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Execs Say They’re Not Really Asking Creatives to Repeat Plots"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDespite Matt Damon and Ben Affleck\u2019s recent suggestion<\/a>, Netflix execs say they\u2019re not asking filmmakers to repeat their film or TV plots in show dialogue.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere is no such principle,\u201d Netflix film chief Dan Lin<\/a> told reporters Wednesday as the streamer met with press to tout its upcoming slate. <\/p>\n

\n\tAffleck and Damon made their comments on the \u201cJoe Rogan Experience\u201d to promote their new Netflix film \u201cThe Rip,\u201d and suggested that Netflix had asked creatives to repeat \u201cthe plot three or four times in the dialogue\u201d to account for people being on their phones. The news led to a gag during Sunday\u2019s Oscars, where Sterling K. Brown and host Conan O\u2019Brien jokingly suggested how \u201cCasablanca\u201d might be remade under that edict.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe actually all laughed when we watched that bit at the Oscars, but there\u2019s no such principle,\u201d Lin said at the Netflix press conference. \u201cI mean, if you watch our movies or TV shows, we don\u2019t repeat our plot. So I don\u2019t know where that comment came from. Certainly, we are focused on making great movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn direct contrast to the idea that Netflix was asking creatives to add explainers to their projects, scripted series head Jinny Howe<\/a> joked that chief content officer Bela Bajaria<\/a> is \u201ckind of exposition police and very against being overly explainer about things\u2026 We know how savvy the audiences are. We know how much fans are paying attention, and we are really treating them as they are sophisticated and as smart as they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBajaria added, \u201cI think it\u2019s so offensive to creators and filmmakers, to think that first of all, we would give them a bad note like that, and they would just take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked about whether Netflix was still pondering different film windows now that the company\u2019s deal to acquire Warner Bros. is over, Lin said \u201cgive us time\u201d to articulate whether anything has changed. \u201cWe are a streaming first company,\u201d he said. \u201cThe strategy works really well for us. You can see our members watch seven movies a month. But you can see how, through the Warners process, we built a closer relationship with the theater owners. We are looking for what special events that we can have in theatrical but just give us some time to figure out what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBajaria clarified that much of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos\u2019 promises about 45-day windows in theaters referred to the Warner Bros. output, not the Netflix film output \u2014 that strategy remains unchanged, although the streamer continues to experiment with theatrical runs for both TV and feature content.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t want you to conflate the two. When Ted was talking about what Warner Bros., it\u2019s in a different business than Netflix is in,\u201d Bajaria said. \u201cBut we have obviously done certain things in theatrical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong other topics discussed:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022 On Netflix<\/a>\u00a0purchasing\u00a0InterPositive<\/a>, a start-up founded by\u00a0Ben Affleck<\/a>\u00a0that makes AI-powered tools for filmmakers: \u201cWhat I think is really cool and interesting about InterPositive is that it was Ben as actor and filmmaker of really looking at \u2018what would make this film more efficient, or could I do certain things that I couldn\u2019t do otherwise?\u2019 He was experimenting on his own for many years as he built it\u2026 We have always said we want to make sure that we have the best tools if filmmakers want them. Some don\u2019t want them; they don\u2019t have to use them. But the ones that do, if we had a tool that was actually created by a filmmaker and very practical, I think that\u2019s sort of the most exciting thing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022 On Netflix experiential events, including \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d coming to Netflix House: \u201cIt\u2019s really about building fandom,\u201d Lin said. \u201cWe\u2019re doing that with our movies and series, and now we\u2019re doing it with a live experience. There\u2019s a new one coming on, \u2018KPop Demon Hunters.\u2019 To be able to experience \u2018KPop Demon Hunters\u2019 at Netflix House in Philadelphia would be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022 On keeping up with the competition now that a combined Warner Bros.\/Paramount might be on the hunt for talent: \u201cWe\u2019re really happy with the groups of filmmakers that we work with now, when you look at Greta Gerwig, David Fincher, Guillermo del Toro,\u201d Lin said. \u201cWe can\u2019t work with everybody, but we\u2019re really happy with the talent that we\u2019re working with\u2026 I think we will be even better because we have that competition. It just makes us hungrier, sharper, so we\u2019re not afraid of the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdded Bajaria: \u201cWe\u2019ve always had competition. This isn\u2019t really any different. There\u2019s competition all around the world\u2026 It\u2019s always been, for us, to understand what the competition is, not head in the sand at all, to understand what the market is, and really keenly aware of what\u2019s happening\u2026 We have to do this every day, all day, and not take our eye off the prize.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022 On shorter gaps between seasons: \u201cWe would love things to come back faster for the audience,\u201d Bajaria said. \u201cIt also depends on the creator, writing and getting it all up and running.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022 On live series, and whether \u201cStar Search\u201d will return for a Season 2: \u201cWe\u2019re trying to figure that out,\u201d Bajaria said. \u201cIt was a talent competition. We haven\u2019t done something like that, in that format and the way we launched it. I think we\u2019re trying to figure out the right format for it. We really liked it, and I thought there was a lot of good things in there. We\u2019re always like, \u2018Let\u2019s try something.\u2019 Sometimes you have to have patience and build something like that. We\u2019re still evaluating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022 On whether there will be more talk shows on Netflix: \u201cIt\u2019s not like, \u2018Oh, we have to do talk.\u2019 [John] Mulaney had a really great fresh take, and it was just an opportunity, somebody we had worked with a lot, we tried in Netflix Is A Joke. There\u2019s no \u2018yes or no.\u2019 It\u2019s not like, we\u2019ll never do it because it hasn\u2019t really worked as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022 On whether they\u2019d be interested in bringing in Stephen Colbert after he ends his CBS run: \u201cI mean, he hasn\u2019t come in and had a conversation,\u201d Bajaria said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite Matt Damon and Ben Affleck\u2019s recent suggestion, Netflix execs say they\u2019re not asking filmmakers to repeat their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[30436,147039,88,73231,217],"class_list":{"0":"post-532026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bela-bajaria","9":"tag-dan-lin","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-jinny-howe","12":"tag-netflix"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}