Ben Affleck calls Netflix an ‘assembly line’

Not long after announcing that he and Matt Damon would be starting their own production company, Ben Affleck has berated streaming giant Netflix for having an “assembly line” for content.

In a recent question roundBen Affleck suggested Netflix couldn’t possibly focus on admirable work because the content stream focuses on quantity rather than quality. “If you ask Reed Hastings… I’m sure there’s some risk in that and I’m sure they had a great strategy, but I would have said, ‘How are we going to make 50 great movies?! How is that possible? It’s a thing that requires attention, dedication and work and defies the assembly line process.”

Affleck added, pointing out that it would take far more manpower than a studio could afford to give its content the quality control it needs. “There is no committee big enough. There isn’t enough – you just can’t do it. It’s a thing that requires attention, dedication and work and defies the assembly line process.”

To give an idea how much content Netflix produces, 2022 so far over 150 feature films and 50 documentaries have been released. Those are astronomical numbers compared to the big studios and even some of Netflix’s streaming competitors. Amazon Prime had released fewer than 30 original films this year, while Hulu, which combined over the past five years, hasn’t matched Netflix’s production.

Last month, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon announced they would serve as chief executive and chief creative officer, respectively, for Artists Equity, a production company dedicated to renting out artists “Take ownership of their creative power and provide a platform for both established and emerging filmmakers to streamline the development of their content.”

What do you think? Is Ben Affleck right when he calls Netflix an “assembly line”?