Movies - TV
Midnight Mass Creator Mike Flanagan Reveals Netflix’s Stupidest Studio Notes
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
Mike Flanagan’s 2021 Netflix miniseries “Midnight Mass” features Riley Flynn, an ex-convict who returns to his small hometown with no faith, ambition, money, or hope.
Flanagan wrote the character very deliberately, but the executives at Netflix sent the showrunner a very specific note — over and over and over again — about Riley's agency.
One unnamed executive couldn't understand how Riley didn't have a job lined up when he got home and said he should be filling out job applications — not “just sit[ting] around.”
“I pointed out that Riley trying to find purpose, and having absolutely nothing, was important for how we meet the character, but they wouldn't be dissuaded,” said Flanagan.
Netflix wanted a montage of Riley looking for work and having doors slammed in his face, but the studio abandoned the idea when the costs to shoot it were too expensive.
Then, Netflix insisted that the show be scarier with footage of a monster killing cats. Flanagan protested but ended up shooting “the stupidest scene I’ve ever filmed.”
“Bad notes are bad notes, but [Netflix] was special. There were times I seriously wondered if my execs had been drugged,” concluded Flanagan, who’s now making shows for Amazon.