Netflix ~ Archewell

[LimeBiscuit]

Well, this was written yesterday.

That is from April. The latest from Puck News, which is being discussed on another thread, is that these shows didn’t chime with test audiences so it doesn’t look like they will go ahead 🤷‍♀️

it follows confirmed announcements by Netflix, Archewell and the author earlier this year.

What 'announcements' from Netflix?

I don't believe NF have made any sort of official announcement regarding any upcoming projects?

I do find it interesting that neither the polo or cooking shows were ever promo'd by Netflix itself. That's in contrast with the new programme with Victoria Beckham, which was announced by Netflix on Twitter last week. I guess the Beckhams did garner them a lot of positive press and Emmy nominations, so they will go all out for them. However much success the Sussex doc had through viewship when it first came out, it's kind of notorious for its lack of credibility now. And I do wonder if Netflix were annoyed that none of the juicy stuff from Oprah, Spare and what was leaked to Omid Scobie found its way into their production.

X post with @IcedPurple . No I didn't think anything direct from Netflix was issued either, but happy to be proven wrong if anyone can find it.

I do wonder if Netflix have to somewhat "go through the motions" with Harry and Meghan in order fulfill their side of the Netflix bargain. It's only fair that they try to put some of their projects forward, but there's not much they can do if their test audiences aren't finding the projects that interesting. I do think the Sussexes would be better off doing behind the scenes work in a production capacity for a few years, and try to build up a reputation (and fortune) as producers of really good products that don't need them to be front and centre.

So there is no progress to report on "Meet Me At The Lake"

And Netflix have yet to confirm anything about when to expect either polo or cooking/lifestyle/friendship programmes

Lemonada, paused until next year

ARO, nothing since insta launch

I think they really need momentum on at least one of these projects, ideally all.

They are doing well, a successful tour (x2), book deals, Lemonada, Netflix, ARO. None of these have gone away…they progress at a pace that no one is privy to other than the people involved

"The people involved" do not operate on some secret time scale different from others in their industry.

Spare was a huge best seller, which isn't surprising as there is a market for royal dirt. Its hard to see how it can be replicated however. 4 years on from signing with NF, their only ratings hit was a 'documentary' whining about royal life. . Spotify dumped them because of their failure to produce. As for ARO, well, whoever heard of 'launching' a brand with no products?

That's not a good track record by any standards. They're in an industry which moves fast, and nobody is hanging around twiddling their thumbs patiently waiting for them to come up with something marketable.

they progress at a pace that no one is privy to other than the people involved

and snails.

Not too keen on the sound of the book, best seller or no, that Archewell is behind but I will watch the film when it comes out to see it. Buying the film rights for millions shows they are not short of a bob or two and that they are serious about their involvement in producing content for the future.

If by 'they' you mean 'Archewell' they did not buy the rights to anything.

NF optioned the rights to the book. Studios and streamers do this all the time. It doesn't mean any film or series will actually be produced.

And if Harry and Meghan are indeed 'serious' about producing content, they have yet to show it.

I do wonder if Netflix have to somewhat "go through the motions" with Harry and Meghan in order fulfill their side of the Netflix bargain.

This is exactly it. Hazza is notoriously litigious and if it all goes to shit and ends up in litigation, NF can't have H&M claiming that NF didn't fulfil their side of the bargain by making all the appropriate effort to bring ideas through production.

Puck news is rumour, not credible. Particularly as Netflix confirmed the shows in April of this year. However, as is often said there is no such thing as bad publicity and all rumour does is fill in the vacuum until more progress is official. If people want to talk about Netflix and the celebrity royals in the same breath it just keeps them on the radar.

“The streaming giant confirmed to CNN on Thursday that the couple’s Archewell Productions has two new nonfiction series in production at Netflix as part of a multi-year overall deal signed in 2020. The news was first reported by Deadline.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/11/entertainment/meghan-prince-harry-new-netflix/index.html

Also as previously reported.

”Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have bought the rights to the bestselling novel Meet Me at the Lake through their company, Archewell Productions, and will work with Netflix to bring the story to the small screen, a spokesperson for Penguin Random House confirmed to Forbes Monday, adapting a story that shares several similarities to their own lives.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/08/07/prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-buy-rights-to-bestseller-meet-me-at-the-lake-for-netflix/#:~:text=Prince%20Harry%20and%20Meghan%20Markle%20have%20bought%20the%20rights%20to,a%20story%20that%20shares%20several

Author confirms.

https://people.com/meghan-markle-prince-harry-adapting-meet-met-at-the-lake-romance-novel-netflix-author-carley-fortune-confirms-7571280#:~:text=Meghan%20Markle%20and%20Prince%20Harry's%20production%20company%20is%20looking,the%20Lake%20for%20the%20streamer.

“Go through the motions.”

Hardly, it is a business.

From the ‘horse’s mouth’, Sarandos co- CEO of Netflix and in charge of creative output.

“The documentary we did on them is still one of our most-watched documentaries of all time on Netflix and huge, particularly in the UK, where people just devour everything about them,” Sarandos said. “They're controversial, but that's usually a good thing. You may love them or hate them, but you're watching. And I do think that they are also going to be very strong storytellers, with great exposure to media in terms of what people want to talk about, what they think about, and they're great at getting attention.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dbloom/2024/03/08/netflixs-sarandos-knew-the-obamas-would-be-great-producers-meghan--harry-controversial/

They certainly are great at getting attention, even when the press outlets of the UK are not invited. Nigeria and Colombia…

That's 6 months old.

So no official statements from NF then?

They are the ones who decide to produce a show. Or not. Everything else is just fluff.

Puck news is rumour, not credible. Particularly as Netflix confirmed the shows in April of this year.

Puck News analyses the business side of things. So they are unlikely to make wild
claims or have an agenda. I don’t think it can
be dismissed as just rumour. The article quoted elsewhere says that the two programmes have not been well received by a test audience, so they will probably not be followed up. April to the end of August is a long time in the entertainment industry. Lots of things have been “announced or confirmed ” in relation to the Sussexes and have never materialised. “Pearl” for instance

Still rumour. It takes a while to make a film and one of the two new series is in the can. The other regarding polo is not finished yet.

It is relevant until it is not.

Definitely snails.

Well, I guess it did take 3 years to make Gone With the Wind. Although Before Sunset only took a couple of weeks.

It doesn't seem to take NF long to churn them out. It's not a multi-million $ blockbuster with huge names and schedules to work around.

From Netflix,

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/prince-harry-meghan-duchess-of-sussex-series-release-date-news#:~:text=Harry%20and%20Meghan%20are%20at,multiyear%20overall%20deal%20with%20Netflix.

They could not be any clearer. Unless, people need them to make weekly statements to keep the punters happy when it comes to keeping us constantly up to speed with the Montecito Marmite duo.

This is from April.

Crickets.
Cooking show doesn't have so much as a title to date.

There has been no statement since April.

No one is asking for weekly updates and its ridiculous to suggest that.

It's now four months on, and neither programme has even a vague date for when expected to appear - and as shown in OP and subsequent posts NF have recently put out a big announcement on what's coming for A/W 2024. That has attracted comment, and is the whole purpose of this thread.

As ARO has a form of insta launch in March, I'd expected to see movement on that by now; but if it's going to be a tie-in to the show, the delay makes sense (but does beg the question of why do it at all so far in advance, especially with no further content to build momentum). If that misses both Thanksgiving and Christmas (as now seems likely) then it seems likely that somethings gone wrong.

As the polo show isn't trying to sell anything, it matters less when that's coming out.

I'm confused by Meet Me At The Lake, because when the rights were sold, there was extensive coverage that H&M via Archewell had bought them (not denied at the time, and they're meant to be keen on accuracy so surely wouldn't leave a big mistruth uncorrected) but now there's all sorts of weird statements that no it wasn't them, it was NF all along.

Since when do we run Netflix and Archewell Productions. People will just have to wait.