Los Angeles - A Netflix Inc
experiment that began with viewers picking a movie character's
breakfast cereal may expand to letting the audience choose the
best on-screen date or the safest path to escape an ax murderer.
The world's largest streaming service wants to try out more
interactive entertainment following the response to
science-fiction movie "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch," executives
told reporters this week.
The company is looking for possibilities across genres such
as comedy, horror and romance, said Todd Yellin, Netflix's vice
president of product.
"Why can't you have a romantic title where you get to choose
who she goes out with?" Yellin said. "Or horror titles. Should
you walk through that door, or should you dive out that window
and get the heck out of there? You can make the choice."
In "Bandersnatch," the first decision viewers could make was
whether a character would eat Sugar Puffs or Frosties for
breakfast.
The idea was to give audiences a simple choice to encourage
them to test the technology, which involved clicking via a
remote or tapping on the screen to select an option. The movie
kept playing even if the viewer did not choose.
The cereal scene became an Internet sensation when
"Bandersnatch" was released last December.
"Like many of you, I got addicted to 'Bandersnatch' and
trying to figure out what's the significance of the cereal, and
not the cereal, all the different options," Netflix Chief
Executive Reed Hastings said.
The film provided feedback about how long people want to
engage with interactive programming and how many choices they
want to make, Hastings said. After the cereal decision, viewers
selected things such as the type of music a character would play
or whether they would jump off a building.
When viewers can direct a story, they feel "really with the
character," Yellin said. "You are more viscerally feeling what
they are feeling. You just made the choice for them."
That is why Yellin wants to try the format in other stories
where characters face immense consequences. "Horror is life and
death situations constantly," he said. And in romances, "the
emotional stakes are high."
Yellin said the effort is in its early stages, and Hastings
suggested he does not see interactive entertainment replacing
traditional storytelling.
"I don't know if I would do it every day," Hastings said,
"but as part of my viewing, it's pretty exciting."
Netflix already has produced a handful of interactive shows
for kids, who were immediately receptive to the idea, Yellin
said.
"Kids don't have established rules," he said. "They assume
that's the way the world should be and they'll try it."