There was a time, now past, when the creators of television series were mysterious beings to viewers: they could watch Mission Impossible, The A-Team, or The Prisoner without even imagining who was behind them. But with the arrival of the Internet and prestige television, it is rare not to know, at least by hearsay, Alan Ball, Ryan Murphy or even Raphael Bob-Waksberg. We live in the era of streaming, but also of the big names for which the industry fights. After a success, it is rare not to have a million-dollar offer waiting at your door to develop your projects exclusively with a streaming service. What does that mean when it comes down to it? That if you don’t have projects, you get paid for doing nothing. And creators have taken full advantage of it.
Fly, Fleabag
This is the case of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who you surely know for being the soul behind the fantastic Fleabag (both the play and the subsequent series). Additionally, she was the producer of Killing Eve for HBO… And that’s it. Since 2021, she hasn’t done anything on television, and for a reason: it was the year Amazon Prime Video offered her 60 million dollars (read that right) to develop her series with them. So far, the only thing that has been known is the attempt to make a Tomb Raider series that came to nothing… And yet, she has renewed her deal! Buried in money without lifting a finger. This is today’s Hollywood.
Another one who has taken advantage of the pressing need for prestigious products is JJ Abrams, one of the creators of Lost, Alias, or Fringe, who signed a deal in 2019 for 250 million dollars with Warner to make his series on HBO for the next five years. At first glance, he had three that were about to be released: Overlook (a prequel to The Shining), Justice League Dark (a spin-off of the DC Universe), and Duster. Six years later, only the latter has come to light, and it was canceled after just one season. He had not been in charge of any series since 2013.
There are more examples, of course: Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, have just signed a contract with Paramount for 1.5 billion dollars (you read that right) to have the series and its derivatives. 50 episodes in total, or in other words, 30 million dollars for each of them, in addition to the most valuable part: the rest of the series exclusively on Paramount+. How have they celebrated? By making an episode in which Donald Trump, with whom their company wants to smooth things over, has sex with none other than Satan. At this point, are we going to ask South Park for subtlety?
Also in animation, but to a lesser extent, is the case of Alex Hirsch, the creator of the legendary Gravity Falls, who signed with Netflix for an undisclosed amount to work on his upcoming projects within the company. This was in 2018. Seven years later, he has done absolutely nothing, beyond writing a new series that Netflix has not approved. Although rumors indicate that he wants to leave his contractual obligations with the Big N, nothing seems to suggest that they will allow him to do so before the time is up. A sad case, yes, but let’s not forget that he is still getting paid… without having to do anything.
This is the Hollywood we have now: one based on money, exclusives, series that are never made, and celebrities who continue to live off their name for years. What do they gain by having creators tied up doing nothing? Why do they keep renewing million-dollar contracts for series that don’t exist? I’m afraid that to know the answer, we would have to get into the minds of the executives of streaming services. And no one, no one wants that.