The Future of Hemlock Grove and Netflix
It’s strange to think that Netflix has become such a major player in the Hollywood game. I remember the days when I was astounded by the fact that they could get DVDs to my house at such a rapid pace. Now they’re off making original content and show no signs of slowing down.
The Hollywood Reporter conducted a lengthy interview with Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos, which I encourage you to read. It doesn’t all pertain to horror, but it does offer a look at how the Hollywood machine is changing and that’s something we should all be interested in. While we’re often concerned with who is making our horror, how it’s being distributed could be just as important.
Among the details discussed in the interview, that are relevant to us at least, Sarandos talked about the future of Netflix’s original show Hemlock Grove and what other shows could possibly be coming to the streaming service. With Netflix planning to double it’s original content (that would mean eight new shows) in 2014, there could be plenty of room for new horror.
While we told you that Hemlock Grove was a hit for Netflix, it was obvious that the series met with a mixed reaction. Horror fans were pretty well divided when it came to how the series was received, but Ted Sarandos doesn’t see that as a bad thing.
Hemlock is much more polarizing; you either love it or hate it. The crossover for the people who love the show was American Horror Story, not The Vampire Diaries. It was incredibly popular in the Nordics because of the popularity of the Skarsgards [Bill Skarsgard stars] and in Latin America, where the horror genre is very big.
So will the horror series get a second season? Did the love outweigh the hate? It would appear so as Sarandos says that they’re currently “hearing pitches” and plotline ideas for the second season.
What’s been interesting about Netflix’s strategy to bring original programs to their service is that they’ve remained very tight lip about the behind-the-scene details. Whereas other major networks love to flaunt their ratings and viewerships, Netflix has kept the details vague. They’ve even gone as far as to keep the cost of their shows a private matter.
A few months ago we speculated on what it would cost to bring a show like Hemlock Grove to life, based on the details provided by CAA agent Peter Micelli who stated that it would cost around $4 Million an episode. However, that appears to not be the case as Sarandos has stated that the number was “remarkably ill-informed,” but he would not elaborate further on what the actual cost would be.
So what will the future of Netflix look like? And will it be appealing to fans of the horror genre? I wouldn’t get too excited…yet. For now it seems as if Netflix is looking to appeal to the demographic that would make the most financial sense.
The other thing I look at is the tween segment. Hemlock Grove is horror, but it’s not really CW horror; it’s much more adult than that. So I think that we’d like to look at some series in that category.
Now before you get up in arms about tween horror, let’s remember one thing. Netflix is a business and it needs to make money. Perhaps tween horror doesn’t interest you, but the more money Netflix makes, the more likely it’ll be that they take risks on horror subjects that do interest us. So, personally, I’m excited about the future of Netflix. Hemlock Grove was an interesting experiment and while it didn’t satisfy everyone, it showed that Netflix is willing to take risks on our genre and who could be opposed to that?
