Puck has had an ax to grind with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for a while, so I always dread whenever the site name-checks Harry and Meghan for any reason. A few days ago, Puck included them within a larger story about “The Best and Worst Deals of Peak TV.” The point of this piece is that for the past six years or so, streamers have made some horrible decisions when it comes to cutting big checks and hoping that some good shows will come out of it. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Amazon deal got name-checked, as did JJ Abrams, David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and Seth MacFarlane. All of those people got sweetheart nine-figure deals and they have provided very little for it. Here’s the section which mentions the Sussexes:
Higher Ground and Archwell (Netflix)
Raise your hand if you haven’t worked briefly at the Obamas’ Higher Ground production company? The executive turnover and slow output have frustrated Netflix, even if the deal delivered the hit feature Leave the World Behind and several docs that Higher Ground is kissed into. On the TV side, the jury is still out on Will Forte’s Irish comedy-thriller Bodkin, while animated preschool show Ada Twist ran for four seasons. A sign of displeasure: Netflix let go of its exclusivity when it renewed the Obamas in June at a reduced first-look rate. The streamer is not expected to renew its five-year, $100 million deal signed in 2020 with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Meghan’s passion project, the animated kids show Pearl, has already been canceled, and the unscripted cooking and polo offerings didn’t connect the way the royal couple’s Harry & Meghan did.
Netflix hasn’t even premiered Meghan’s cooking show and the polo show is still being developed (???) or it’s still filming. What are they even talking about? “Didn’t connect” – we haven’t seen it! Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are conversations at Netflix about whether or not to renew Harry and Meghan’s contract. But they’ll be fine either way, plus it feels like Netflix is actually pretty happy with the Sussexes in general and Netflix is making longer-term plans with Archewell. They’ve created more for Netflix than most of the other people Netflix has put under contract.
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
Does Netflix do test screenings for all shows? I saw Heart of Invictus through the early AMC screenings but that was like a week before it came out so I don’t think that they were going to be making major changes based off of the feedback we gave, but that’s the only way I could see that statement making any sense. Plus I had already figured they wouldn’t renew the deal based on all the other larger industry specific reasons given, same as Spotify and all the pod deals. Or if they did renew it would be for a shorter amount of time and non exclusive. A lot of these deals were given when people were at home because of lockdown or when the majority of people were still working remotely. That has shifted a bit and profits are different so how they’re approaching these huge streaming deals are just different now. That really has nothing to do with how pleased the studio is, you can’t just throw money out of the window when you have shareholders. Of course I’m sure the British media will make it evidence of something, and completely ignore all the other people who didn’t get renewed deals at spotify, Apple tv, amazon, Netflix and insist it means ” something” about the Sussexes.
Did you get to see the whole series or just an episode?
If I remember correctly it was the first three episodes. Because we were earmarked for 2 hours and they had us fill out a questionnaire afterwards.
Listen up, Entertainment deals and disclosures in California are more secure than Fort Knox. That Puck, has no more of an insider view than those of us reading this article. So they need to stop trying to second guess the Sussexes or the Netflix corporation.
I mean, that’s not really true though. Under Matthew Belloni Puck has quickly become a go-to source for actual industry people, everyone listens to his podcast. I find him incredibly annoying (and I’m certainly not alone) but there’s no question that Puck gets good insider info. That said, I do think their framing is weird here since the polo & cooking shows have yet to air. I agree with the other commenter who guessed that early internal screenings haven’t gone that well but the article should have either been more clear or not mentioned those shows at all.
The golden age of streaming for TV and podcasting is over. The pandemic created a huge surge in the desire for new content that isn’t as intense as it was four years ago. That doesn’t mean anyone is getting “dumped,” but it many mean contracts will be structured a bit differently. If so, that’s hardly a snub to Harry and Meghan, it’s just the new business paradigm.
Isn’t the move based on that book still coming too? Or is that not for Netflix?
Yes, the movie is still in development. A writer posted on twitter the other day that she had received a call asking her to be part of the project, she was very excited. I don’t think Puck has any insider information when it comes to Harry and Meghan. Remember the story they ran about Meghan hiring a stylist, only for it to be denied by Meghan’s team?
Yes, it is for Netflix and I’m guessing it could be in pre-production or it got scheduled to come after the cooking show?
So Higher Ground supposedly has a high staff turn over like they claim for Archewell? Could it be that this is just normal for the industry and new production companies? What’s sad is that the goal of both companies is producing more inspiring content and that doesn’t seem to be what most people prefer.
The part about Harry and Meghan feels like a throw away line. Pearl and many other shows was cancelled because Netflix got rid of their animation division. And the cooking and polo shows haven’t been aired yet. But I think they will probably get a similar deal to the Obamas. If they don’t, I still see them continuing in the business. They will have the freedom to produce what they want.
Pearl was cancelled because Netflix canned their animation department. It’s got nothing to do with Meghan.
Then there’s “Meet me at the lake” that is being devoloped, plus Cooking and Polo are yet to be completed and streamed — so I have no idea what they’re talking about.
The only thing I was a bit disappointed with was “Heart of Invictus” which was excellent, but it didn’t get the promotion it deserved, so the viewer numbers weren’t anywhere as good as they could have been.
I agree, especially about HOI. Netflix should have promoted the Invictus doc over the summer when Harry received the Tillman award. It would have flowed right into people watching the Olympics. Huge missed opportunity.
It came out during the writer’s strike. I’d imagine the plan would have been for Harry to do interviews about the series but that just wasn’t going to happen during the strike.
When it comes to Netflix and the Sussex’s I don’t believe anything anyone else has to say unless it comes from a direct source like a Netflix news release or from the Sussex’s directly. Either way I’m sure Archewell production will have many projects others will pick up, like Amazon Prime. The fact that these articles never credit the Sussex’s with the success the numbers prove they have achieved is a big tell that they don’t know what they are talking about.
Well, I am excited for her cooking show. It is one of the few reasons I am keeping Netflix for now. She has such a graceful and warm personality. I really feel I might actually learn to cook something. Since my cooking talent is not much higher than dino nuggies and ordering takeout.
Unfortunately for Meghan, “Pearl” was a casualty of the decision to make extensive cuts in the Animation Division and nothing to do with the series itself – which this outlet knows full well but chooses to ignore.
Bill Simmons is associated with Puck… so there you go.
This.
👏🏽
They might not renew a $100 million deal, but there has to be some kind of deal because projects are being produced.
Agreed. As others have noted, the streaming landscape has changed since 2020 and honestly, I think if H&M did nothing for Netflix but their docuseries, Netflix probably felt like it got its money’s worth considering how successful that one project was.
Everyone’s streaming contracts are changing as this article seems to point out so it will be interesting to see how/if H&M are ultimately affected. but they’re clearly on good terms with the Netflix CEO so I think if anything is restructured or whatever, it wont be because someone labels them “grifters” (looking at you Bill Simmons….)
Talking against the Sussexes or their projects is a sure way to get named in the UK toxic press then spread in the international sister-like gutter press.
I know Belloni carries a lot of clout and insider info but keep in mind that he also has a show within The Ringer network. And we know that Bill Simmons is a noted Meghan/Harry hater.
I cannot believe this outlet just wrote that the cooking and polo shows did not connect when they haven’t even come out yet. Was there some test audience that we don’t know about? I don’t t think there was so this is just absurd
Since they only started filming earlier this year it is unlikely they are at the stage where they are ready to be shown to test audiences. Sounds like nonsense to me.
Have never seen so many organizations or people interested in a couple’s finances as those interested in the Sussexes. Long may the Sussexes reign.
This article reminds me of that time Kim Kardashian got robbed in Paris and her sisters who were with her were distraught and one of them still endorsed something on social media. It was later taken down but this is when I learned that influencers have schedules that dictate how often they endorse stuff and its their teams doing the work. These endorsements come out on schedule rain or shine
I feel like its the same with the smears about the Sussexes. The schedule is whenever the Sussexes produce something within an hour of its release call it a failure, ignore the incredible ratings or numbers and then a year later say it was a failure despite all evidence to the contrary. They did this with the H&M doc which broke records, Archetypes which broke records, and SPARE which continues to break records. I say this reminds me of the Kardashian robbery because Meghan’s show hasn’t even come out yet HOW are they calling it a failure?? Its like they thought her show would be out by now so they put this hit piece on the calendar. Its was scheduled for August so it comes out in August and it doesn’t matter if the show is a hit or hasn’t even come out yet.
They also have a smear schedule for country visits. The country’s government announces the Sussexes will be visiting and 1-2 weeks before the trip the Brit Press talk about how dangerous the country is. While the Sussexes are in country discuss their security and after they leave they discuss the costs. Its all so rote and boring.
I think it’s less about the Sussexes’ output (they have actually put out a lot of content that has hit) but perhaps Netflix deciding that giving out these huge blank cheques for exclusive “first look” rights hasn’t been a winning strategy for them overall.
That’s like saying that the iPhone 16 didn’t connect the way the iPhone 15 did, when there hasn’t been an opportunity to connect because it hasn’t been released yet. The cooking and polo show “didn’t connect” because they haven’t aired yet.
Can someone educate me a bit here?
When we hear about these huge deals, does that mean that the Sussex’s got $100m to take home, then they get money to develop the shows? Or is that $100m their budget over 5 years to produce stuff, and their take home money is included in that figure as a part of the budget?
I’ve always assumed it’s the latter, but sometimes I see people talking as though they personally received $100m.
You are correct that it’s the latter. $100m is the maximum and it includes costs. So if Netflix spent say, $20m on Harry and Meghan the docuseries, most of that money go towards paying production costs like paying the director, crew, lighting and cameras, the location owners, cratering etc. and the rest goes to H&M themselves. We don’t know how much the cooking and polo shows cost but Netflix is not obligated to pay for it if they don’t think they are good enough to air. That means if they don’t renew, H&M can take the shows sell them to someone else to air.
But yeah back to your main point, H&M never received $100m. That was just the max NF was willing to spend over a 5 year period.
I think they mean that they (Archewell) showed pilots of the cooking and polo shows and those didn’t connect with Netflix.
If TV that’s what they meant why didn’t they say that? We don’t even know what stage of production the shows are at. Seems you are making a very wild guess based on little information.
Well yeah it’s a guess, because what else could they mean by “didn’t connect”? We know they filmed back in April, they had to have shown NF something by now. NF is not just going to air something they haven’t seen themselves.
Puck knows as much about Netflix contracts as I do so that would be zero.