Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, April 21st, 2023
Hollywood hates their tech overlords.
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, April 21st, 2023.
LIONSGATE'S TIK TOK IS BASICALLY A FAN ACCOUNT
Despite the fact that we are about 15 years into the social media era, a lot of entertainment brands still struggle to find the right vibe for their accounts. It can't be too safe and corporate. But it is just as much of a fail to have that forced casualness you see from a lot of entertainment brands accounts (Netflix, I'm looking at you).
One company that does social media very well is Lionsgate, whose Tik Tok account feels authentic and it shares unique content that is a reminder of the company's many familiar bits of IP. The Link In Bio newsletter has a great interview with Eric Dachman, Director of Digital Marketing at Lionsgate and it's a master class on how entertainment companies should approach social media:
RK: I feel like you and your team know every single inside joke, funny movie reference, etc—are you all just genuine fans? Or what goes into being able to understand and speak to a fandom super well?
ED: That’s very kind. We are genuine fans! That’s what makes the job so enjoyable. There are over 17,000 movies in the Lionsgate catalog. While I admittedly don’t know every single one, I am a huge fan of lots of them.
It takes a deep familiarity with our catalog to be able to recall moments that would resonate with fans. In particular, when something is trending on TikTok, we can pull a specific moment from a movie because we’re fans and we remember the scene. We also pride ourselves on actually listening to the fans, so that we hear all (or most) of the inside jokes.
RK: How does this fan-first philosophy take form on a platform like TikTok? Why do you think the content resonates so well with your 5.1M followers?
ED: Like most people, we are obsessed with TikTok. We spend all day, every day on the platform. Meaning that we understand when trends are fresh vs outdated. We like to strike while the iron is hot with a trend, so that we don’t miss the moment. My worst fear is that we post a trend that’s way late and end up on r/fellowkids. We cut a lot of TikToks in-house versus sourcing them to an agency, which gives us the control to post at a much faster pace.
It's amazing to me that in 2023, the social media efforts of so many networks, studios and streamers revolve around posting the same over-produced clips and content across every platform. That certainly works if you're just concerned with checking a box to show you're trying to engage with your audience. But it doesn't actually accomplish anything other than keeping a few marketing people employed.
HOLLYWOOD HATES THEIR TECH OVERLORDS
If you talk to anyone in Hollywood for more than a few minutes about the business, they will eventually make some semi-sneering comment about the "tech industry," and by that they mean companies such as Netflix, Apple and Amazon. According to them, Hollywood was doing just fine and printing money for everyone involved until the evil tech lords came in with their piles of money and inability to understand the relationships that have kept the industry humming for more than a hundred years.
That anti-tech flex leads to really odd arguments, including this one from the Labuza Movies newsletter than claims people should not be nostalgic about the Netflix DVD business. In reality, it was nothing but Silicon Valley exploitation:
But Netflix’s DVD company was simply exploitative in different ways. Netflix’s opportunities in the business were no different than Uber and Lyft way before the change to streaming.
Time and time again, Silicon Valley has proven there are three things one can really do to transform a business. The first is to eliminate real estate costs. The second is to reduce labor costs. The third is to exploit public infrastructure.
Rather than build a single warehouse has Blockbuster had done, Netflix preferred to simply lease smaller, more anonymous distribution centers. At its peak, Netflix had around fifty centers. To put that in context, Amazon—which revolutionized the efficiency speed of delivery—currently has over 1,100. When Netflix opened distribution centers, placement was built around mailing facilities and where you could rent the office space for cheap. This meant mostly anonymous office parks outside of major cities.
I find this point of view to be perplexing. It's a bit like arguing that AT&T was evil not for any of the legitimate reasons the company sucks, but because automation made locally-based telephone operators unnecessary.
I've spent the last twenty-five years of my life working in various offshoots of the technology world and yes, Silicon Valley is the home of some truly horrific people. But at its core, technology isn't evil. Even most technology firms are not based on evil deeds. Like every other business, the evil in technology firms resides in the people who run it.
But that's not nearly as fun a story to tell.
ODDS AND SODS
* Disney+ has canceledNational Treasure: Edge Of Historyafter one season.
*Saturday is Record Store Day in the U.S. and the U.K. But did you know there is alsoa Record Store Day in China?
TWEET OF THE DAY
WHAT'S NEW FOR THIS WEEKEND:
FRIDAY, APRIL 21ST:
* A Tourist's Guide To Love (Netflix)
* Big Beasts (Apple TV+)
* Central Airport THF (Film Movement)
* Chokehold (Netflix)
* Cyberchase Season Fourteen Premiere (PBS)
* Dead Ringers Series Premiere (Prime Video)
* Dear Mama Series Premiere (FX)
* Diary Of An Old Home (Discovery+)
* Drops Of God Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
* Ghosted (Apple TV+)
* Indian Matchmaking (Netflix)
* Judy Blume Forever (Prime Video)
* Love, Me Season Two Premiere (Hulu)
* One More Time (Netflix)
* Rough Diamonds Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Secrets Of The Elephants Series Premiere (NatGeo)
* Slip Series Premiere (Roku Channel)
* SUGA: Road To D-DAY (Disney+)
* The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs (Shudder)
* Welcome To Eden Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
* Wild Isles (Prime Video)
SATURDAY, APRIL 22ND, 2023:
* Ada Twist, Scientist (Netflix)
* A Pinch Of Portugal (Hallmark)
* Chasing The Rains (BBC America)
* Her Fiance's Double Life (Lifetime)
* Path Of The Panther (NatGeo)
SUNDAY, APRIL 23RD, 2023:
* Amityville: An Origin Story (MGM+)
* Autopsy: The Last Hours Of Robert Reed (Reelz)
* Fix My Frankenhouse Series Premiere (HGTV)
* From Season Two Premiere (MGM+)
* Home Town Makeover Season Premiere (HGTV)
* Somebody Somewhere Season Two Premiere (HBO)
Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.
SEE YOU MONDAY!
If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.