Why Netflix and debut directors seek each other out: diversity, exposure and the search for the next big thing

Stefon Bristol had a clear vision of his first feature project. As a graduate film student at New York University, he had already shot a short version of a film called See You Yesterday, a story about a science-obsessed teen who masters time travel to save her loved ones.

Bristol knew a film with a young black heroine, an unknown cast and a socially conscious message about police brutality might be a tough sell in traditional Hollywood.

But the aspiring director was determined to reach a wide audience. With the backing of mentor and producer Spike Lee, he took the idea to Netflix, which eagerly agreed to finance and distribute the movie.

The vote of confidence paid off: 12 million households watched at least 70 per cent of See You Yesterday in its first four weeks after its release in May, according to Netflix.

“The game plan was to tell our story to as many people as possible and, honestly, I don’t think I would have got that number if it was in cinemas,” Bristol says.

As the streaming wars intensify, Netflix is aggressively courting not only Academy Award-winning filmmakers such as The Irishman director Martin Scorsese and Roma director Alfonso Cuarón, but also artists who haven’t yet broken out. The idea is to forge relationships with up-and-coming directors before they become big names.

Last year, Netflix released 19 original films from first-time directors on its streaming platform; another 11 have already been announced for 2020. About half of the first-time directors last year were women, and several titles were from people of colour whose films had diverse casts and characters.

The push is part of Netflix’s overall strategy to differentiate itself from other streaming rivals by offering consumers high quality feature films – with budgets from US$5 million to more than US$100 million – in addition to signature TV series such as The Crown and Stranger Things.

“Let’s be that home where we can find the next Spike Lee, find the next Kathryn Bigelow and be there from the beginning with them,” says Scott Stuber, Netflix’s film chief.

In widening its stable of film creators, the company is also creating opportunities for new and inclusive voices to establish their footing at a time when Hollywood has been criticised for a lack of diversity.

In 2019, only a dozen of the top 100 grossing films were directed by women, according to a study by University of Southern California Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative. That same year, just 16.8 per cent of the directors were from under-represented racial or ethnic groups.

To a filmmaker hustling to get their first feature made, a Netflix release can offer a tantalising alternative when fewer screens are available for indie fare: instant worldwide distribution with 167 million subscribers and, in some cases, a Netflix payday.

Netflix acquires films from film festivals, takes pitch meetings on new projects and brings in new voices through its relationships with established filmmakers.

That last scenario was the case with Bristol’s See You Yesterday, which was adapted from his thesis project in film school. When Lee came aboard as a producer, he facilitated the Netflix connection.

Bristol, who says he was working a part-time job and was broke at the time, received financing from Netflix to make his project into a feature film. Netflix provided feedback on development, as well as marketing muscle. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

“Allowing my vision to flourish with a platform like this and with the help of Spike, that’s what I needed,” he says.

Neflix’s global reach is also opening new avenues for non-English-language films, especially with the success of Cuarón’s Roma, which won three Academy Awards last year and debuted on Netflix after a limited cinema run.

Cuarón’s relationship with Netflix played a role in Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor’s decision to sell the first film he directed, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, to the platform ahead of its Sundance premiere.

The adaptation of William Kamkwamba’s 2010 memoir about the African inventor’s journey to create a wind turbine to save his remote village from economic ruin, always seemed primed for a global audience, despite the language barrier, Ejiofor says.

“We weren’t obliged to go with Netflix,” he adds. “It’s not one size fits all. But for the nature of this film, I thought it was a very exciting development … that Netflix would be able to really take this film global.”

Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek knew how tough it would have been for The Breaker Upperers, about two female friends who end other people’s relationships for a living, to compete for viewers against much bigger studio fare. The film was released in February 2019 by Netflix everywhere except New Zealand and Australia.

“In New Zealand there are only 5 million of us here, so to be able to go global overnight on Netflix was incredible,” says Van Beek. She and Sami will next team up as directors on Hope, a Netflix romcom starring Aubrey Plaza.

With the market dominated by studio sequels, remakes or comic book movies, indie filmmakers have fewer options at the box office.

“There are only so many weekends in a year,” says Nahnatchka Khan, who made her feature directorial debut with the Netflix romcom Always Be My Maybe, starring Ali Wong and Randall Park. “All you hear about is counterprogramming and the big movies coming out … With Netflix you have more chances. That’s what it comes down to.”

Khan launched her career in television, where she created the ABC sitcoms Fresh Off the Boat and Don’t Trust the B … in Apartment 23. She was surprised by the volume of immediate reactions Always Be My Maybe drew from audiences across international markets.

“It’s so accessible to people and you feel the fans right away,” she says.

But not all early-career directors are keen on premiering their work on streaming services. Some prefer to have their films debut on a big screen in the conventional model (Netflix releases movies in the home at the same time or just after their theatrical release) or supported by traditional cinema marketing campaigns. Others who have worked with Netflix have privately expressed concerns about their movies getting lost in a library of content.

For example, the makers of 2018 blockbuster adaptation  Crazy Rich Asians said they chose a traditional studio home at Warner Bros for the film rather than a lucrative streaming deal with Netflix because of the respect the theatrical experience still commands, particularly for a film with the potential to make history for representation in Hollywood.

“It seemed the right thing from the very beginning that you wanted to get people to go into a dark theatre and watch it,” director Jon Chu said. “Three or four years ago, it was different times. … Who knows, now?”

At 31 years old, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson made her feature writing and directing debut in April with Someone Great, a New York-set romcom starring Gina Rodriguez as a millennial dealing with the aftermath of a break-up. Robinson had previously created the short-lived MTV series Sweet/Vicious.

Like See You Yesterday, Someone Great got in the door at Netflix with an established producer on board when Spy filmmaker Paul Feig backed Robinson. She pitched directly to Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos in 2017 as the company was investing in a new wave of rom-coms.

Upon release, she clocked the movie’s impact by the social media conversations it sparked and by viewing data provided by Netflix indicating that her film was being watched in such countries as South Africa, Brazil and France. Even Taylor Swift saw it, later revealing that it inspired her song Death by a Thousand Cuts.

“I would rather make a movie with Netflix that I know is going to be watched and that people are going to see, than spend all this time making a movie theatrically where, who knows what’s going to happen?” Robinson says. “I genuinely think that people are so stuck in what film used to be and are bucking against where it’s going.”