“House of Cards”—Netflix Cash

“The cheapest [Netflix] show is $3.8 million an episode. ‘House of Cards’ started at $4.5 million and (executive producer David) Fincher took it way above that…The next series is ‘Hemlock Grove’ and they’re doing that for about $4 million an episode. ‘Orange is the New Black’ is just under $4 million as well. They’re huge budgets shows, doing things in a huge way.”
CAA TV literary agent Peter Micelli
Netflix Series Spending Revealed by Andrew Wallenstein
Variety 3.08.13

“It’s hard to watch Netflix’s’ House of Cards’ and not get the feeling that it’s not only great programming, but also a seminal event in the history of TV….It’s the first major TV show to completely bypass the usual television ecosystem of networks and cable operators….If there’s any doubt about the venture’s success, competitors are already rushing to emulate it.”
What Netflix’s “House of Cards” Means for the Future of TV by Greg Satell
Forbes 3.04.12

P.S. Netflix, an online rental service, was founded in 1997 and now has more than 23 million subscribers.  It’s worth noting that fifteen years ago there was a healthy groundswell of people using DVDs, and about ten years ago there were 9,000 Blockbuster video stores across the United States (less than 500 remain today). Makes you wonder what the next 10 or 15 years of change will bring in the distribution system—and what kind of opportunities it will bring for screenwriters and filmmakers.

Related Post: Content Creators=Distributors

Scott W. Smith

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Screenwriting Quote of the Day #77 (David Franzoni)

I think it’s going to turn into Daivd S. Cohen week as I pull another quote from his book Screen Plays. This one from screenwriter David Franzoni. Before Franzoni won an Oscar for his role in producing Gladiator or worked with Spielberg on Amistad he was a struggling writer like everyone else. He grew up in Vermont and attended the University of Vermont where he studied geology and paleontology. 

By the time he turned his full attention to screenwriting he was in his early 20s. It would take him five years before he would break into the business with a script sale and another 10 years before he saw his first screen credit. By the time that film (Jumpin’ Jack Flash) was released Frazoni was 39 years old. The Oscar would take another 15 years. It’s a process. (For more on the process read the post on Malcolm Galdwell’s chapter The 10,000 Hour Rule from his book Outliers.)

“I remember the day I broke through. I had a meeting with Sissy Spacek and I came out and I’ve got a flat tire. And my spare’s flat. I’ve got twenty-six bucks. I take the spare and roll it down the street. For twelve bucks they patch it for me and I roll it back. I get home. I don’t have an agent. I have a girl at CAA who’s representing me on the side. I get home and there’s a message. ‘Sissy wants to hire you, and we sold the spec script.’ “
                                                       David Franzoni
                                                       Quoted in Screen Plays by David S. Cohen
                                                       page 21

 

Scott W. Smith

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