After the strikes ended, agents, managers and producers quickly moved to put together high-profile packages to take into the market, which was expected to be crowded after six months of inactivity. But while there were some bidding wars and big sales, and a few more still pending, demand wasn’t as high as many expected. The biggest casualty of the tight market is packages with A-list stars.
“It was such a mystery,” one agent said of the situation. The agencies keep records of all star packages sent in recent months that have failed to attract interest, despite the major talent that includes Oscar and Emmy winners and nominees in front of or behind the camera, stars of blockbuster films and legendary television series belonged to series and in some cases famous IP. The total number is now over 20.
“We call it the Whiff List,” one manager said of the injured list.
The dry spell could be attributed – at least in part – to the current state of streaming TV development.
Netflix
It was the rise of streamers that brought with it the proliferation of star packages. Netflix made a name for itself in the original series space in 2011 by outselling HBO House of cards, led by then-top actor Kevin Spacey, with a two-season run. Other streamers also looked for sensational star packages as they established themselves, including Apple TV+ The Morning Showwith Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, Amazon with Homecomingled by Julia Roberts, both of whom also received orders for two seasons.
The streaming arms race has largely subsided as media and technology companies have shifted their priority from scale to profitability and are unwilling to overspend on talent and projects.
“Money is so tight everywhere. “These are huge investments, huge packages, and a lot of them don’t necessarily provide the best return on investment,” one agent said, pointing out that streamers haven’t seen a boost in subscribers because of these expensive originals. Most groundbreaking series that have increased subscribers for platforms such as: Stranger Things, Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon And Reacherwere not star vehicles, but star makers.
As budgets are cut across the board amid economic headwinds, “there is fear, executives are afraid to spend so much money,” another official said. “You don’t want to be the first to jump in and spend money when it’s not necessary.”
According to the representative, taking into account this newfound resistance is probably the great success of a lower-cost purchase like this Suitswhich far outpaced star-dominated series that cost more than $100 million per season, which has made streamers even less willing to spend big on packages.
“There is a little more rationality in the market,” said one buyer. “Packages used to come through, and Netflix used to buy them, now Apple bought them. But we see things coming onto the market that don’t find buyers, which is unusual. That hasn’t happened in a long time.”
On the reason: “I think it comes down to the ability and willingness to meet expectations. What would have gone straight into series may now be development,” the person said.
In fact, during Tina Fey’s Four Seasons; Margo has money problemss, starring Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman, with David E. Kelley as showrunner; The good daughterunder the heading of Jessica Biel, recently secured series orders from Netflix, Apple and Peacock. Most of the high-profile packages that generated interest and bidding situations after the strike ended in development deals.
That’s perhaps not a bad thing, since most of the biggest hits in streaming and premium cable come from internal development. With a large package and a large commitment, this could be more difficult.
There is a certain level of expectation for the studios that release packages, especially when patronage is high,” said an agent. “In the development cycle there are many layers and cooks in the kitchen, but the [auspices] I don’t want to take notes.”
Because the market is short of cash, network executives are more inclined to take on a cheaper project that they can develop and take on, the person added.
Furthermore, the only way to land a large star was to include it in a package. Now an actor of almost any caliber can be brought in during the casting process.
For example, Steve Carell was just cast opposite Fey in the Netflix series Four Seasons. His two most recent series, Space Force And The patientwere both picked up with him on board, and he has since been attached to at least one other package taken out.
Now a series like HBO’s The White Lotus has proven that a show can be very successful without spending a fortune on top talent. Even after the great success of the first two seasons, the drama stuck to its modest acting fees, which led to offers being rejected.
But the strategy has worked for the Mike White series, whose actors regularly win Emmy nominations in the acting categories.
There’s another possible reason for the recent wave of package rejections: the overabundance of limited series.
In 2012, HBO committed to a limited series package. True detective, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Its success led to a series of limited series with high-profile talent that led to bidding wars Big little lies starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, which also went to HBO.
This became the preferred way for movie stars to make “prestige television” on limited time. This is according to the list of Emmy winners in the feature film lead actor/actress categories over the last seven years, which include Nicole Kidman, Regina King (twice), Michelle Williams, Kate Winslet, Amanda Seyfried, Ewan McGregor, Michael Keaton and Mark owns Ruffalo – all for limited series.
As strikes delay new seasons of drama series, premium networks and streamers have relied heavily on limited series over the past six months, resulting in a stagnation in the genre and one of the most competitive Emmy fields ever with hits like… True Detective: Night Country, Griselda, Shōgun, Lessons in Chemistry, Fargo, Expats, Baby Reindeer, The Regime, Master of the air, Ripley, Under the bridge, The sympathizer And Apples never fall.
“Everyone is behind the strike, limited series have no stock value – and that’s what all the stars want to do,” said one shopper, calling most limited series “a terrible business model for everyone involved.”
“We want big, recurring hits,” the person said.