Auteur theory began after WWII
when an influx of previously banned American films flooded French cinemas and
critics began to notice trends emerging.
In his 1954 essay "A Certain Tendency in French cinema",
Francois Truffaut claimed that film is a great medium for the expression of the
personal ideas of the filmmaker. (Pickering, 2010) In the age of internet and streaming
technology, TV and movie-makers have the freedom to more fully push their
particular ideas and themes without commercial restraints. Auteurs with small, but fervent fan bases,
are able to produce works that have time to find bigger audiences without the
constraints of ratings or the demand for mass-appeal content that will satisfy advertisers. Audiences are free to select and consume (“binge-watch”)
the content that they want without the taste dictates of others. (Isaacson, 2013)
Two comedians with a distinct
point of view are Tina Fey (“30 Rock”) and Mindy Kaling (“The Mindy Project”). Tina Fey created her newest show,
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” for NBC. They passed on airing the finished
episodes and internet streaming platform Netflix picked it up. As a result, Fey anticipates that in future “it
(will) give us license to play with time and culture — or to potentially
offend an advertiser or the NFL (National Football League)” and will be certain
that their audience has deliberately sought them out as opposed to stumbling
upon them and finding themselves offended by the experience. (O'Connell, 2015) Mindy Kaling, star and creator of “The
Mindy Project”, has had a similar experience as her show transitions from the
Fox network to streaming platform Hulu.
She no longer has to be involved in conversations with the network about
audience numbers, restricted amounts of time to tell her stories or even
casting decisions. (CBS News, 2015) “My
relationship with Hulu is that they wanna be with us and we wanna be with them,
and that kind of excitement is probably the biggest change, and it makes life
so much better.” (staff, 2015) Furthering that sense that they’re really
wanted at Hulu, an order for 26 episodes has been placed. Typically, networks hedge their bets by
ordering 13 episodes with a “let’s see” approach to a further renewal. “The Mindy Project” now has the confidence to
try bigger, longer term stories and expand the roles of peripheral
characters. (Stanhope, 2015)
Not just places for edgy TV projects,
streaming services are now attracting big names that previously worked
exclusively on the big screen. Working
in TV used to have the stigma of “slumming” attached to it but streaming
television services like Amazon.com continue to build cachet. They’re seen as places with creative freedom,
the sense of being part of something big and more financial support for
projects that would be considered too commercially risky for theatrical release. The
Auteur’s Auteur, Woody Allen, has agreed to do a series for streaming service
Amazon. (Poniewozik, 2015)
“They said, ‘Look, we’ll do anything you want; just give us six
half-hours,’” Allen said. “’They can be
black and white; they can take place in Paris, in New York and California; they
can be about a family; they can be comedy; you can be in them; they can be
tragic. We don’t have to know anything;
just come in with six half-hours.’” (France, 2015) Bringing in Mr. Allen and giving him what
appears to be total creative freedom signals that Amazon has creative ambitions
that it is determined to push. Amazon
Studio Chief Roy Price said, “I
had always thought Woody Allen’s characters and comedy would translate
beautifully to TV, particularly now with more serialized story lines and
openness to nuanced characterization. Once…you’ve
binged 10 episodes, it’s increasingly hard to go back and watch television with
20 minutes of painful commercials and multiples weeks in between episodes
because of show interruptions.” (Steel, 2015) In addition to arthousehe streaming services
are also attracting blockbuster genre auteurs.
The
Wachowski Siblings, Lana and Andy, known for ground-breaking sci-fi movies that
are dense, elaborate and full of balletic martial arts sequences, have also
brought a project to a streaming service.
Where their movies “Cloud Atlas” and “Jupiter Ascending” were thought
too large scale in theme, cast and story for the movies, Netflix has given them
12 hours to strut their stuff in the series “Sense8”. One of their actors, Brian J. Smith,
described the series this way: “The
logistics of this are insane. You’re not supposed to do a television series
that takes place in nine cities, all over the globe. Everyone will tell you
that that’s undoable. The whole idea was undoable, and that’s what the
Wachowskis love. If you tell them no, they’re like, “Watch.” (Radish, 2015)
The
internet streaming services gambles are paying off in the arena that matters
most to Hollywood: awards and viewers.
Without the constraints of commercial television, shows can take risks
and the Emmy awards have recognized their efforts. "When
you look at the Emmys, they're no longer about what the popular masses
like," said Billie Gold, vice president and director of TV programming
research at ad firm Carat. "It's more about if you have top actors doing
these really interesting roles, with multi-dimensional characters. … [With]
mainstream television, you're trying to appeal to the masses. Tina Fey’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
garnered seven nominations including one for best comedy series at the 2015
Emmys. "We are moving toward a
video-on-demand environment," said Brad Adgate, analyst for New York ad
firm Horizon Media. "It's begun already with younger adults and will grow
toward viewers in their late 30s and 40s this season. (Collins, 2015)
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References
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August 10). Mindy Kaling grateful to Hulu for saving "The Mindy
Project". Retrieved September 22, 2015, from CBS news:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mindy-kaling-grateful-to-hulu-for-saving-the-mindy-project/
Collins, S. (2015,
September 18). Transparent' vs. 'Modern Family' and what Sunday's Emmys say
about TV's cultural shake-ups. Retrieved September 22, 2015, from Los
Angeles Times:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-emmys-change-20150919-story.html
Deadline
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(2015, May 18). Woody Allen really regrets agreeing to do an Amazon series.
Retrieved October 6, 2015, from CNN:
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bastard-machine/tv-industry-needs-a-steve-
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http://www.npr.org/2015/09/12/439151410/in-new-memoir-mindy-kaling-has-more-to-say-on-life-love-and-showbiz
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/mindy-project-writers-hulus-split-801893
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