Jan 20, 2026 12:54 AM
Netflix tells directors to repeat plot for people using phones while watching, says Matt Damon
https://www.nme.com/news/film/netflix-te...on-3924120
EXCERPTS: During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast alongside his co-star, Damon spoke about collaborating with Netflix, saying they want bigger action earlier in such films, and push for the plot to be repeated to accommodate attention spans.
“The standard way to make an action movie that we learned was, you usually have three set pieces,” he said. “One in the first act, one in the second, one in the third… You spend most of your money on that one in the third act. That’s your finale.
“And now they’re like, ‘Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay tuned in. And it wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching.’”
Affleck went on to praise Netflix series "Adolescence", which became a huge success last year, and the fact that it “didn’t do any of that shit”.
[...] After Rogan argued that one perceived misstep is “exaggerated to the fullest extent” and a person is “cast out of civilisation for life”, Damon responded: “In perpetuity. Because I bet some of those people would have preferred to go to jail for 18 months or whatever, and then come out and say, ‘I paid my debt. Like, we’re done. Like, can we be done?’
“The thing about that getting kind of excoriated, publicly like that, it just never ends. And it’s the first thing that… you know, it just will follow you to the grave.” (MORE - missing details)
https://www.nme.com/news/film/netflix-te...on-3924120
EXCERPTS: During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast alongside his co-star, Damon spoke about collaborating with Netflix, saying they want bigger action earlier in such films, and push for the plot to be repeated to accommodate attention spans.
“The standard way to make an action movie that we learned was, you usually have three set pieces,” he said. “One in the first act, one in the second, one in the third… You spend most of your money on that one in the third act. That’s your finale.
“And now they’re like, ‘Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay tuned in. And it wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching.’”
Affleck went on to praise Netflix series "Adolescence", which became a huge success last year, and the fact that it “didn’t do any of that shit”.
[...] After Rogan argued that one perceived misstep is “exaggerated to the fullest extent” and a person is “cast out of civilisation for life”, Damon responded: “In perpetuity. Because I bet some of those people would have preferred to go to jail for 18 months or whatever, and then come out and say, ‘I paid my debt. Like, we’re done. Like, can we be done?’
“The thing about that getting kind of excoriated, publicly like that, it just never ends. And it’s the first thing that… you know, it just will follow you to the grave.” (MORE - missing details)