Netflix has a slew of movies available on its platform. Many of these are splashy originals, like the recent Netflix releases Atlas and the dramedy Hitman, which are both quite popular on the streamer. Some of the network’s flicks aren’t made with such lofty budgets in mind, however, and many fans love that the network adds genre content like rom-coms as well as Academy Award winners. But if you’ve ever wondered how Netflix feels about its rom-coms and what the streamer is trying for in terms of quality with movies like Irish Wish and Mother of the Bride, Ted Sarandos recently was extremely open about the streaming platform’s goals.
What Is Netflix Hoping For With Rom-Coms Including Lindsay Lohan’s Irish Wish
There’s been a lot of talk about “folding your laundry” content at Netflix, which is why one enterprising New York Times reporter wanted to talk to Ted Sarandos in the first place. When they spoke, they discussed genre programming and that sort of content that can be thrown on while other tasks are being accomplished. Sarandos does not straight up deny the “folding your laundry” content premise, but he did reveal the streaming platform is trying to compete just a little more highly than Hallmark in terms of quality, which I did not expect him to flat-out say.
He used the recently lambasted film Irish Wish to explain the actual quality the streamer is going for, and connected his rom-coms with the ever-popular Hallmark releases in the process.
[Laughs.] But again, I think that Irish Wish is at the high end of the Hallmark scale. And not at the kind of midtier of the Fox Searchlight scale.
The Hallmark formula has also been a topic of conversation over the years. While Hallmark has evolved in terms of diversity of its characters and its storytelling, most of its movies still feature a meet-cute, followed by a soon-to-be-couple engaging in some thematically appropriate activities, followed by the build-up to a kiss at the end. Netflix gets a little more risqué with its movies and comedic premises, and the company is actively trying to find scripts that are a step up from Hallmark but not so weird they’d fall more on the indie romance scale.
That’s a gap that really did kind of exist in the market, and it’s refreshing that the Netflix head honcho is flat out saying they saw the opportunity and took it for their viewers. From what Sarandos is saying, it’s working out for Netflix. He also mentioned in the interview that he’s heard the complaints about “quantity over quality” but he has a totally different perspective than the online chatter, noting:
I don’t agree with the premise that quantity and quality are somehow in conflict with each other. We’ve had eight best-picture nominees in the last five years on Netflix [turns out, they’ve had nine]. Our movie programming has been great, but it’s just not all for you. And it’s not meant to be all for you.
Still, if you are expecting a Netflix romance to be one of the best rom-coms of all time, you may need to rework those expectations. However, if you wondering if Netflix’s formula is a winning one, the numbers prove it is working.
I am going by the numbers, how many people watch it. I mean, people watch the whole thing. People generally turn off things they don’t like in this on demand world.
The numbers don’t lie. Irish Wish debuted with more than 25 million minutes of streaming back in March of this year. The Lindsay Lohan starrer remained on Netflix’s most-watched list for weeks. And Mother of the Bride got a lot of hate when it was released, and yet it also lingered on Netflix’s Top 10 list. So while the movies may not earn the most accolades, they are written in such a way that they are not being turned off by the majority of viewers.
At the end of the day, that’s exactly what Netflix wants, and I appreciate the honesty about it.