This photo was taken October 7, 2021. It shows the logo of...[+] Netflix on a large screen above a Seoul street. The Netflix hit series "Squid Game" is a dystopian vision about a divided society. It combines a tight plot with social allegory with uncompromising violence. - TO GO WITH AFP STORY SKOREA-US-TELEVISION-SOCIAL-SQUID GAME,FOCUS BY CLAIRE LEE (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY SKOREA-US-TELEVISION-SOCIAL-SQUID GAME,FOCUS BY CLAIRE LEE (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images
Netflix NFLX has just announced that Squid Game, its Korean import, is its highest-performing series launch ever, attracting over 111,000,000 viewers in more than 90 countries.
Its Korean origins and its bizarre concept - - sees debtors competing for billions in a Darwinian game where losers face certain extinction. Few could have predicted the show's massive success.
Netflix is still a creditable company for making the show and for allowing Netflix to green-light 9 episodes.
Hwang Donghyuk, the Korean creator/filmmaker, conceived and directed all nine episodes. However, the series was not able to gain any traction at any major studio during the 2008 financial crisis.
Hwang Dong-hyuk was a director of several Korean films that were successful, which gave him more credibility. Netflix finally granted Hwang Donghyuk his chance.
Intellectual Property (I.P. It seems that script development approval is required for almost any entertainment project.
Hollywood is stuck in a creatively difficult period. The vast majority of content made by Hollywood has to pass a preliminary acid testing before it can be funded. This means that the title must have been a bestseller of fiction, nonfiction, news stories, or a new spin on classic characters, or any other promising idea.
Although technically, there is I.P. Squid Game is technically I.P.
The entertainment industry is dominated by a torrent of content. It's almost impossible to find titles that make noise, or matter to the consumer because of this overwhelming amount of content.
Before funding a script or production, streamers and studios want to be sure that the title is already well-known.
This is a way content financiers can hedge their bets in an industry where billions of dollars are spent each year chasing viewers around the world.
William Goldman, author of classics like Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid as well as The Princess Bride, famously stated in his book Adventures In The Screen Trade: "When it comes to suits in Hollywood,"
He was referring specifically to studio heads that believe they can predict which TV series or movie titles will be popular.
Amazon has spent nearly $500 million on its first season of Lord of the Rings TV series. Hollywood artists are now resentful at the lack of risk-taking that was once synonymous with the entertainment business.
It is encouraging to see an unusual show like Squid Game flourish in the U.S.A. and around the globe. This reminds the beancounters (risk-averse MBA-types who hold the green-lighting power at the executive suites in L.A. and NYC) that sometimes a good, new idea is the best bet.
Avatar, and Titanic were both James Cameron's original concepts, and they were the first successful films of their kind.
The top two spots were taken by Star Wars sequels (The Force Awakens and Marvel Cinematic Universe's Avengers: Endgame).
It's easy to understand why Hollywood wants to be safe. But too much (an over-reliance upon I.P.-based material in particular) will discourage and render hopeless the creative minds of L.A. who have many bracing ideas such as Squid Game if given the opportunity.
Korea, the home of Parasite, the Best Picture winner, and now the proud parent of Netflix's largest show, Squid Game, shouldn't be the only country that gets to play the original content dice.
Netflix and all other content-financiers, pay attention: Hollywood was once the entertainment capital. You have a wealth of ideas and voices right in your backyard.
Instead of paying attention the bigger lesson, just watch. Original content can often work just as well, if not more, than I.P. - - Hollywood will rather look for dystopian content that transforms a board game for children into a survival of all the fittest adventure.
Anyone for Chutes and Ladders?
