Quality not quantity for US Netflix rival
The US network behind shows like American Horror Story, Sons of Anarchy, Fargo and The Americans has no desire to be the next Netflix, according to FX’s current programming and production executive vicepresident Jonathan Frank.
In New Zealand recently to oversee production of rural coming-of-age drama Breckman Rodeo, Frank told Stuff the company has far loftier goals.
‘‘With people being inundated with marketing for a million different shows, you’ve not only got to have an idea that’s big enough, bold enough to cut through the clutter, but you’ve got to focus on quality.
‘‘Platforms like Netflix create many shows, far more than we have, but we believe the percentage of highquality shows they have on the air is far lower than ours. It seems to me they have an approach of shock and awe. They seem perfectly willing to have 80 shows that I don’t think are worth anyone’s time of day if that means they also have 20 amazing shows.
‘‘When you are expecting people to give their valuable time to a show you are making – to say, ‘watch all of these and be happy with 20 per cent of them’ doesn’t seem like a method that is sustainable. I’ve heard people say they’ve found the volume on Netflix to be overwhelming and they don’t feel there’s a connective effort to have a distinct brand that speaks to an individual.
Frank said FX’s goal was ‘‘every one of our shows to be fantastic. What we focus on is telling engaging stories about the human condition that people will innately have a connection to. We have shows of wildly differing tones, everything from [Zach Galifianakis comedy] Baskets to American Horror Story, but whether they tell a silly, broad version or a dark, brooding version, the intention is to connect with the same visceral internal mechanism that we as humans all have.’’
He also dismissed Netflix as ‘‘trying to be everything to everybody’’.
‘‘We want our audience to be immensely passionate about the shows we make, rather than create a whole bunch of stuff that a whole bunch of people sort of like.’’
He also said FX wanted to develop talent. ‘‘People aren’t attracted to ideas – I think people are attracted to [a] point-of-view and that comes from the creators.’’
Which is precisely why his company decided to greenlight a What We Do in the Shadows TV series with Kiwis Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.
‘‘They are both immensely talented. I am a massive Flight of Conchords nerd and have spent way too many hours rewatching their specials. Taika as a director is a visionary. He melds
Taika is a visionary. He melds the silly with the real in a way that few other directors have been able to.
the silly with the real in a way that few other directors have been able to do such a distinct voice.
‘‘Ultimately that is what attracted us to those guys. They create characters you can relate to and find endearing.’’
Frank said it would never have just done a TV version of Shadows if it didn’t come from its creators.
‘‘Making a TV show with these guys is what we’re excited about. We’ve seen the pilot, seen all the scripts and they are in production now and I have to say I couldn’t be more excited about it – it’s super, super funny. ’’
Frank is also a fan of Sky TV’s SoHo channel, which places his network’s content alongside programmes from HBO and Showtime.
‘‘HBO is the brand we most frequently compare ourselves to. You can tell that a lot of thought and care has gone into crafting each and every one of them.’’
About seven months ago, FX began to invest in a documentary strand.
‘‘We thought we were doing ourselves a disservice by not being in that specific form of storytelling and creating a home for those artists to share the subjects they were passionate about.’’