Netflix is building a team of superstar talent to bring more original content
Netflix recently signed Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy to huge deals. The company looks to be building a superstar team of creators.
Last year, Netflix announced a deal with Shonda Rhimes. She’s created hit shows for ABC Studios with Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder. There’s a Grey’s Anatomy spin-off coming soon, too, titled Station 19 and she’s working on For the People. She reassured viewers that her shows wouldn’t be leaving ABC any time soon. Her producing partner, Betsy Beers, is also making the move to Netflix with her.
There’s no indication that Rhimes will have any involvement with ABC Studios aside from her current slate of shows. However, Scandal is coming to an end soon, but that was by design and not because of her deal with Netflix. Her shows are immensely popular for the network, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to cancel them in light of the Netflix deal, either.
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Rhimes isn’t the only recent addition to Netflix, either. The company just announced a deal with Ryan Murphy, who is largely known for American Horror Story and American Crime Story. Netflix luring these two away from future projects on network TV means that there’s room for some new talent to shine there, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing for the networks.
Netflix is reportedly paying Rhimes $100 million and Murphy $300 million. Murphy’s deal spans five years, which gives him a chance to provide Netflix with plenty of content.
Previously, Netflix invested in shows and ideas. Now, they’re investing in people. The move is a bold one, but they’re starting with two of the most popular producers in television right now. Shows like Stranger Things and the slew of Marvel properties still have their place, but Netflix is looking to bring in more original content and signing Rhimes and Murphy gives them that.
One upside to this, too, is that Rhimes and Murphy will have more options for what they can do. Sure, American Horror Story already isn’t your typical network show, which is why it’s on FX, but think of all of the new possibilities with Netflix. There isn’t going to be a fight for those primetime slots anymore. Instead, they can just drop content and people will watch it.
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From the looks of it, Netflix isn’t slowing down with the original content by any means and it feels like Murphy won’t be the last person they make a deal with. While Rhimes and Murphy might not make a full-on “team” just yet, Netflix is on their way to one. Superstar talent always attracts attention and you can’t say they don’t have plenty of it already.