"Pachinko" showrunner details streaming's impact on filmmaking
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
/2024/08/21/1724258610624.gif?w=3840)
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer. Photo: David Livingston/GC Images
Drastic shifts in content distribution toward streaming have had an "enormous" fallout effect on the filmmaking community, Soo Hugh, showrunner for the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series "Pachinko," tells Axios.
Why it matters: Hollywood's full reset from last year's writers and actors strikes as well as the "Great Netflix Correction" of 2022 remains far from reach.
State of play: The number of green-lighted programs across streaming and traditional broadcast and cable TV in the U.S. and Canada was 33% lower in the first half of this year than the same time two years ago, Ampere data shows, per LA Times.
- And though Netflix and Amazon are driving a large share of the recovery since the strikes, about 60% of their commissioned projects were outside of North America as they try to capture growing International markets.
- Simultaneously, live sports are becoming more of an investment priority for these companies as they seek to reap the advantages of ad-supported content.
What they're saying: "I have so many friends who still have not gone back to work, and when you look at the trickle down effect of that, you're talking about not just writers and showrunners ... but then that trickles down to cast and crew," Hugh said in an interview last week ahead of "Pachinko's" season 2, which debuts Friday.
The intrigue: Hugh and a partnering producer on the show, Theresa Kang, chose to work with Apple over Netflix for "Pachinko."
- Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously said that the company doesn't make "purely financial decisions" about the content it produces, but that it tries to find stories that have "a reason for being."
- Hugh praised her experience working with the tech behemoth, describing it as being "the most mom-and-pop," saying Apple has carefully marketed and "protected" the show.
Apple's belt tightening is reportedly underway, however.
- The company is trying to pay less for shows up front and acting faster to cancel ones that don't perform, according to Bloomberg.
When asked about how AI may factor into future productions — a key question that sparked last year's strikes — Hugh said she's been using it for research, but that she also asks herself if by doing that, it took away jobs.
- "We need to figure out where the guardrails are ... and the question is whether or not it's worth it."
