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Streamers Adjust Their Appetites In Searching For New Content
Employees walk through a lobby at Amazon's headquarters in Seattle.
(
Elaine Thompson
/
AP
)
Topline:
Although overall production in Hollywood has yet to return to the volume that had been anticipated after the resolution of last year’s strikes, the major streaming services — Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu, Max (and HBO) and Amazon Prime — are ordering new TV series and expressing what they’re looking for to sellers. The Ankler got a critical perspective on what they want from five TV agents.
Why it matters: For creatives, knowing what the market is interested in at a given moment is critical for them to be able to get a green light on a project. For consumers, the buying trends reveal what their favorite streamers are developing based in part on what’s been successful for them recently.
What’s hot: Netflix is said to be interested in prestige procedurals (or “prestige-urals”); the company hasn’t invested much in procedural shows until very recently. Disney+ is seeking the kind of comedy-fantasy series that would be of a piece with the likes of Percy Jackson and Goosebumps. Hulu is into ripped-from-the-headlines shows like its forthcoming one on Amanda Knox. Both it and Amazon are on the search for “hard funny” series in the spirit of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
What’s not: The Bear, despite being perhaps the most acclaimed series on TV at the moment, is not an exemplar for others to follow, according to agents. Anything without a pre-sold audience also may be out of vogue.
For more . . . read the full story on The Ankler.
This story is published in partnership with The Ankler, a paid subscription publication about the entertainment industry.
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