Sept Issue of Wired Suggests that Netflix’s Ties with Indy Films will Deepen
The relationship between Netflix and the independent film business has generated a lot of discussion as of late. The discussion is often tacked onto a discussion of the “Long-Tail Economics” theory, which more or less predicts that the boom in internet retail will result in a consumer market that is driven not by ‘hits’ but my a diverse conglomeration of a niche purchases (the “long tail”).
While numbers suggest that Netflix’s revenue is predominantly hits-driven, one only has to look at the size of its library to see that these numbers don’t rule out a deep philosophical committment to offering independent and rare films. Recent comments given by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos in an interview with Wired Magazine (and brought to my attention by Christopher at Deep Structure) strengthen the notion that Netflix is committed to independent film-making.
While Sarandos reveals Netflix’s plan work out distribution deals to someday rent-out every movie screened at Sundance, Hastings one-ups him by revealing that the company’s real goal is to get every movie SUBMITTED to Sundance, not just the ones that get screened. Not surprisingly, Netflix is also reportedly interested in forming its own production company. Don’t forget, Bahman Naraghi (the new VP of Original Content at Netflix) used to be Executive VP of Finance and Operations at Miramax (i.e. the studio that arguably started the indy-film boom thanks to its release of films like “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” and “Pulp Fiction”).