Netflix Execs Deny Mandated Plot Repeats for Distracted Viewers: ‘So Offensive’
Netflix executives laughed off speculation that the streaming giant asks its film and TV writers to repeat the plot multiple times for distracted viewers.
Talk around Hollywood began after Ben Affleck and Matt Damon suggested that Netflix asked filmmakers to repeat “the plot three or four times” in the dialogue of their productions to account for passive audiences watching while on their phones. The comments, which they made while promoting their Netflix movie “The Rip” on Joe Rogan’s podcast, led to a joke during Sunday’s Oscars telecast — in which host Conan O’Brien and Sterling K. Brown suggested remaking “Casablanca” under that model.
“There’s no such principle,” Netflix film chairman Dan Lin said during a Netflix slate presentation to reporters on Tuesday. “If you watch our movies or TV shows, we don’t repeat our plot. So I don’t know where that comment came from … We actually all laughed when we watched that bit at the Oscars.”
“I think it’s 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,” Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria added. “Haters gonna hate.”
Bajaria and Lin were joined by U.S. and Canada scripted content head Jinny Howe to tout upcoming titles coming to Netflix this year — with all three executives touting a new company motto to make each piece of content with the goal of it being “someone’s favorite.” Titles highlighted during the presentation included the upcoming “Little House on the Prairie” and “East of Eden” adaptations and Will Ferrel’s “The Hawk” golf comedy on the TV side, along with films like “Remarkably Bright Creatures” starring Sally Field and Greta Gerwig’s “Chronicles of Narnia.”
The execs also discussed moving forward after the WBD bidding war with Paramount, Netflix’s acquisition of Ben Affleck’s AI company InterPositive and the lessons from “Star Search” Season 1.
Welcoming competition
Weeks after Netflix walked away from its potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Lin and Bajaria were adamant about welcoming the competition for talent that comes with a supercharged Paramount operation.
“We will be even better because we have that competition. It just makes us hungrier, sharper,” Lin said. “We’re really happy with the groups of filmmakers that we work with now, when you look at Greta Gerwig, David Fincher, Guillermo del Toro … We can’t work with everybody, but we’re really happy with the talent that we’re working with.
For Bajaria, the key is for the team to keep the eye on the marketplace and respond with content that meets those needs — and as Lin put it repeatedly “to zig when legacy media companies zag.”
Theatrical strategy
When it comes to theatrical windows, a topic of much debate when Netflix seemed poised to acquire Warner Bros., Lin and Bajaria said that Netflix itself remains a streaming-first company — Lin added Netflix users tend to watch seven movies a month on the platform — so the strategy to release its films remains unchanged.
Lin said to “give us more time” to decipher if things could change in the future.
“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’re doing,” Lin said.
Howe celebrated special fan theatrical events for the “Stranger Things” finale and the return of “One Piece” as examples of theatrical opportunities for TV programming as well.
Acquiring InterPositive
Shortly after walking away from the WBD war, Netflix acquired Ben Affleck’s AI production startup Interpositive, which can be used on any live-action film or TV show to address challenges such as replacing missing shots, reframing existing shots, correcting lighting and replacing or enhancing backgrounds.
For Bajaria, Affleck’s point of view as an actor and filmmaker as he built the company helps shape the technology to benefit the creative process rather than try to replace it.
“We have always said we want to make sure that we have the best tools if filmmakers want them. Some don’t want them; they don’t have to use them,” Bajaria said. “But the ones that do, if we had a tool that was actually created by a filmmaker and very practical, I think that’s sort of the most exciting thing about it.”
Shortening gaps between TV seasons
Howe and Bajaria spoke of making a conscious effort to get their TV shows back with new seasons as soon as possible — with shows like “The Lincoln Lawyer” as an example of a project that could stick with a yearly cadence.
They also hinted at a reduction of staggered releases this year, with “Bridgerton” Season 4 serving as the only title to receive a two-part release in 2026 — which the execs said was EP Shonda Rhimes’ decision. Ultimately, the decision on how to release a TV title will be made in collaboration with the creative team.
On the live TV side, Bajaria said a decision has not been made on a potential second season of “Star Search,” but celebrated the lessons learned across production of the talent competition series as well as the engagement they saw in their first show with a live voting element to it.
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