Incredible episode of Good Time with @jason_blum and @bjnovak

Follow along here https://twitter.com/GoodTimeShowCH/status/1357894133810044929

How did you get into movie-making?

@jason_blum: I spent my first 15 years trying to find the right fit for me. I loved making independent films, but distribution was hard. The distribution of studio movies was unparalleled, but the making of studio movies was committee-driven.

. @jason_blum: I got lucky to be involved with Paranormal Activity which got me started. Even though everyone told me my next movie should be more expensive, I kept making low-budget films, but with studio-level distribution.

How do studios choose films?

@jason_blum: 3-5 executives make up the greenlight committee which approves production for $100m+ plus movies.

@sriramk: Lots of parallels between Hollywood picking movies and VCs picking startups.

. @jason_blum: People sometimes ask me why all films seem the same. That's because they all go through the same filtering process, so the same types of films are the ones that get the budget.

. @jason_blum: Most of our successes are with scripts that never got approved because they felt too different from what the greenlight committees are used to.

. @pmarca: The Babe Ruth effect in VC: the more big risks VCs take, the more they strike out.

@jason_blum: Our model is somewhat similar to that, but because our usual budget is <$10m, it's feasible for the financiers to still recoup the investment even if it's not a home run.

. @jason_blum: I don't make movies to chase awards. I think one trap that producers fall into is trying to make movies that appeal to too many people.

. @bjnovak: One thing that's different about working on lower-budget films is that the creative input tends to be more suggestions than hard requirements. The director always has final say and there's much less politics compared to usual Hollywood films.

. @jason_blum: @jordanpeele is one of the best people I've ever worked with. He taught me a lot about race-related issues that I hadn't personally experienced even though I asked lots of stupid questions.

@sriramk: My advice is to not work through those questions on Twitter.

. @bjnovak: One of my first standup performances was the day after 9/11. I made some jokes about it which completely flopped. Learned a lot about people's appetite for edgy comedy, which is also relevant in today's times.

. @bjnovak: Today, comedy is more about personalities than the jokes. There is already tons of free humor on social media. People go to comedy shows to watch a person perform, not to listen to jokes.

. @jason_blum: Ironically, the set of a horror movie is much more light-hearted than the set of a comedy movie. But both types of movies are about evoking spikes of emotion in people.

. @aarthir: One of my favorite episodes of The Office is Diversity Day. Would it work in today's climate?

@bjnovak: The relationship to the audience hasn't changed, so I think it would work, but the intermediate gatekeepers are so afraid that they wouldn't approve it.

. @bjnovak: One reason standup comedy is so much edgier than TV shows today is that comedians communicate directly to their audience. TV shows have many gatekeepers in between the directors and the audience who are afraid of backlash.

How has streaming changed Hollywood?

. @jason_blum: Historically, you got rich in Hollywood by making a hit TV show or movie. With streaming, you pay someone a lot of money, and hope there's at least one hit in the next few years. The higher the budget, the higher the pay.

. @jason_blum: With streaming, there is no incentive to keep costs down. It's actually the opposite - the higher the budget, the more the upfront pay is.

. @pmarca: There's a parallel to the difference between product and subscription businesses. With subscriptions, you care about keeping subscribers, so you work on longer-term initiatives. With selling products, you scramble to meet the sales quotas at the end of every quarter.

. @pmarca: The flywheel in streaming services is that the more subscribers you have, the more revenue you have to fund content, creating more reasons for more subscribers to join, and so on. Netflix is currently in land-grab mode, trying to acquire as many subscribers as possible.

. @pmarca: It seems plausible that Netflix could eventually reach 500m subscribers. The amount of content you can fund with that number of subscribers will be very hard to compete against. It feels like Netflix and Disney will be the only two winners.

. @pmarca: As a Netflix consumer, I've noticed that the content is OK, but not top-tier like The Sopranos. One theory is that Netflix is optimizing for conservative outcomes which retain subscribers, instead of taking too many creative risks.

. @bjnovak: There's an echo chamber when you work and live in Hollywood. You drive down Sunset Blvd and see lots of billboards for other TV shows and want yours to be up there. Instead, creatives might want to focus on making content that fewer people watch, but more deeply love.

. @bjnovak: As I've grown, I care less about whether my creative work wins awards. I don't even keep track of Golden Globe nominations anymore. I care way more about making something that speaks to people at a deep, personal level.

. @jason_blum: Streaming has had and continues to have a big impact on Hollywood, especially the business model. Just another part of the long history of technology effecting how we tell stories. Clubhouse is another example.

. @jason_blum: One advantage of streaming on Hollywood is that the success of each individual movie matters less, as long as subscribers aren't leaving. So there is more creative freedom to take bigger risks.

. @sriramk: Someone just sent me money on Venmo with a question to ask you guys.

. @jason_blum: One downside of working with Netflix is that they don't share any data with the creatives about how each TV show or movie performs. That's part of the deal when you accept their huge upfront check.

. @sriramk: Different content has different goals for Netflix. Some is to attract new subscribers, while other is evergreen for current subscribers. I've also heard that Netflix is easy to get a first-time deal with, but for follow-up deals they very carefully examine the metrics.

. @sriramk: Please stop sending me money to ask questions. Or at least send me a lot more money.

. @jason_blum: As a low-budget movie producer, subscriptions are not great for my business and I can make way more $ with a good box office release. So I have a huge bias towards traditional theatrical releases and hope theaters come back.

. @jason_blum: There is an emotional difference in watching a movie in theaters vs watching at home. But that's also what people said about black-and-white movies and silent films. I think the experience of going to theaters will come back, but parts of it may change.

. @bjnovak: "The medium is the message" is a very real phenomenon. Watching something in a theater where you can't do anything else but focus on the film is different from watching at home, even if it's the same content.

. @bjnovak: I've noticed that comedians spend more time testing and iterating material with audiences vs filmmakers who are more stubborn about their vision.

@aarthir: Reminds me a bit of the difference between company cultures that value A/B testing vs those that don't.

What's your message to Silicon Valley from Hollywood?

. @jason_blum: Please do not try to apply data to the creative process of TV and filmmaking. Using data to decide which films to greenlight tends to create worse outcomes. You'll never create Get Out from a formula.

. @jason_blum: Netflix is good at lots of things using data, but I don't think they are great pickers.

. @bjnovak: "Ambient TV" is a devastating phrase for people like me making TV shows. It implies that the show doesn't deeply resonate and engage emotionally with the audience.

...and that's a wrap!

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