Jump to content

How do you interpret?


1tkman
 Share

Recommended Posts

http://www.wsj.com/articles/glut-of-scripted-tv-content-troubles-hollywood-1450296686

Contents of article pasted below.

Would a movement, such as the one described, help to breakup the stronghold of unions and dues associated with filming?

 

 

There were a record 409 scripted television shows on broadcast, cable and streaming services this year, according to research by FX Networks.

The rise in scripted shows has been both a blessing and a curse for the TV industry and viewers. On the one hand, more shows mean more opportunities for actors, writers and producers as well as more choice for TV fans.

Conversely, the glut of scripted shows is making it harder for any one show to break through the clutter. Ratings at the broadcast networks and many big cable channels including FX and TNT are down this year, in large part because of the fragmentation of the viewing audience. 

FX Networks Chief Executive John Landgraf has bemoaned the growth in scripted content, saying that there is not enough creative talent to maintain current levels.

“The bubble has created a huge challenge in finding compelling original shows and the level of talent needed to sustain those stories,” he said earlier this year. 

FX Networks is a unit of 21st Century Fox, which until 2013 was part of the same company as Wall Street Journal-owner News Corp.

The 409 series, which don’t included unscripted shows, movies, mini-series, news or sports, are an increase of 9% from 2014 when there were 376 series. Since 2009, the number of scripted series has grown by 94%, according to FX. 

Driving the increases are cable networks and streaming services, which have been spending heavily on original content. Netflix has indicated recently it has no plans to slow down on creating content and Hulu has also stepped up its commitment to original fare.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs

The non scripted content has moved to youtube.

Youtube right now is just valuable as a CDN and a user database. Not long from now regular broadcast will disappear and all content will be streamed on demand -a la Netflix- and Youtube will lose its major draw; that's why they're rushing to offer real content before all networks become "netflixes" (or "youtubes") and Youtube becomes just another one... especialized in cats, toddlers and tutorials.

There's still place for factual shows (semi-scripted content), documentaries and news, not just Youtube. John Landgraf's fear is unavoidable, I'm afraid. The trend is segmentation (fragmentation has some negative connotation, right?). There will be more players in the market with a wider variety of products to suit all tastes. There'll still be products for the masses, but probably there will be several "masses" with fewer members, but enough to be a market for a certain theme or show. American networks are starting to look outside of US borders (though only a little), something streaming platforms have done -or tried- from the beginning. Hollywood is already -with a golbal mindset-producing high budget films that are likely to bomb at the domestic boxoffice simply because they might be successful elsewhere. On the other hand, if a new NBC shows has poor ratings in the US after a couple of episodes, it gets the axe...

I disagree about the excess of shows and lack of talent to maintain the level. It's about time they look abroad for content creators, too. Shows like Borgen, Sherlock, Deutschland 83, El Tiempo Entre Costuras, etc. have proven that top quality shows with a worldwide audience can be created and produced outside the US. The market just got a lot bigger, yes, and so did the pool of content creators.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"El Tiempo Entre Costuras"

Are fucking you kidding me? That's like the worst example ever, the acting is so bad in Spain, it's incredible.

It was meant to be an example of a show in which the producers decided to spend a considerably large budget -with more than decent script, photography, set design, costumes, etc.- to get a show with enough production value to be sold worldwide, since Spain is not a market big enough to justify such large productions. Neither is Germany or pretty much any European country on its own, in fact Deutschland 83 got mediocre ratings at home but was sucessful enough in many other countries.

Quality standard of acting is not the central issue here, though I disagree that "the acting is so bad in Spain". There are many very good actors in Spain, even though they do not always reach the star status that some other young pretty actresses have. Perhaps a show like "Crematorio" would be a better example for you? Scorpion is quite a successful show both in the US and abroad and the acting is way worse, not to mention the dialogue... If there were a sure formula for success everyone would follow it, but it turns out some people are willing to put up with an actor they dislike or a weaker subplot if they like the show as a whole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is just something wrong with the way they teach acting in Spain. Let's take for example "crematorio", the russian bad ass looks like a genious compared to the other actors. The young wife from the Canary Islands, holy shit how many dicks did she suck to get in there?

Just watch one episode of a good series, then watch 15min of a Spanish or European series, holy shit that's bad. Not only the actors but also the whole telenovela estetic, bad lighting, bad processing, long lenses for everything because it's easier to hide all the lack of savoir faire,etc... And the scripts are written by and for demented people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, I'm spanish, but I must confess that you are mostly right!!! 

The whole cinema scene in Spain is based on dick-sucking. There are 3-4 producers which can make money producing 2-3 films per year even if nobody watch them. They get public money whether they have a gem or a shit. In the "best" times 200 movies were produced of which only 10 more or less had theatre time. The others went to film deposits. At most some pass on TV in the middle of the night!!! Spanish cinema counts on Almodovar and another pair of directors to get some traction. 

In Italy where I live now is more or less the same, with the difference that here there are more than a couple of directors with talent!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • EOSHD Pro Color 5 for All Sony cameras
    EOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs
    EOSHD Dynamic Range Enhancer for H.264/H.265
×
×
  • Create New...