Jane Campion reacts on Netflix subscriber loss, says it will be 'more picky' now
Jul 10, 2022
Washington [US], July 10 : Netflix after facing the loss in subscribers have left Jane Campion wondering that the streamer will be "more picky" in matter of the projects it decides to fund.
Campion recently shared her view. She said, "I do think they're going to be more picky about other projects or, maybe, what's sad is not taking risks on people without names," Campion told the BBC in a recent interview, as per Variety.
Hollywood director-screenwriter whose 2021 Western "The Power of the Dog" garnered 12 nominations at the Academy Awards, now believes that established filmmakers including her will likely be fine. However, she thinks the new strategy may hurt the prospects of up-and-coming filmmakers.
"I don't think it would be hard for me if I wanted to do something because I've established a relationship and they're incredibly loyal," said Campion.
While she made sure that her movie "The Power of the Dog" fully supported by Netflix, the perspective of the company has shifted since the film was released in the heat of last year's awards season, according to Variety.
Netflix recently announced that it was down by 200,000 subscribers at the end of Q1 and that it expects to lose another two million subscribers in Q2. In its most recent earnings, Netflix committed to cutting costs in order to keep its margins at 20%. The streamer still plans to spend aggressively on content, though, with a budget of $17 billion in 2022 for shows and films.
In the current report, the company has also seen massive rounds of layoffs, with let going roughly 300 staffers.
Campion during the interview, she also shared that Netflix offered her a budget "north of $30 million" to make "The Power of the Dog." "They didn't offer me that much, that would have been nice," she said with a laugh. "They offered something close-ish and no, the film couldn't have been made without them because we took it to the market and there were several different people interested. But we had budgeted the cost of it and the only people that were willing to go near that was Netflix, "she stated.
"The Power of the Dog," movie made Campion an Oscar for best director, marking only the third time a woman has won the award. Campion's win was the only Oscar the film brought home, losing out to "CODA" in the best picture race.
Earlier, Campion had bagged the Academy Award in 1994 for Best Original Screenplay for 'The Piano'. She was also nominated for best director for her work on 'The Piano' and is the first woman to be nominated for best director twice.
At the 78th Venice International Film Festival, Campion had won the Silver Lion award for directing 'The Power of the Dog'. Campion had also won the Best Director honour at the Golden Globes.
'The Power of the Dog' is a 2021 Western psychological drama film written and directed by Campion. It is based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. The film deals with themes such as love, grief, resentment, jealousy, and sexuality.
"With the Academy it seemed that 'CODA' really captured the hearts of people." "It was an easier film to understand and, you know, that's the way it went and I'm happy for them," Campion continued.
Campion also revealed that she has no plans at the moment to make another feature film. Instead, the award-winning director wants to focus on a pop-up film school she has set up in Wellington, New Zealand -- which Netflix will continue to fund.
"I was thinking, 'Oh gosh, they might withdraw the money, they can't make sense of it." "But I'm really thrilled that they're not doing that."
