The reputation that Netflix has cultivated is that they have money to spend, and fully support the creative vision of whoever they work with. But sometimes giving an auteur a blank check and hands off management can lead to what happened on the streaming service’s upcoming series “The Get Down” which, according to Variety, earned the nickname among those involved as “The Shut Down.”
The trade has an extensive look at the behind-the-scenes woes the show faced, but it boils down to this: Baz Luhrmann, who was expecting to play a smaller role on the series, offering his input but standing to the side, wound up being completely involved. The series burned through two showrunners, and oddly enough, when Sony Pictures Television, who are also producers on the show, tried to press Netflix to bring in another, they refused: they wanted Baz Luhrmann’s vision or bust.
The result was a budget that spiraled from $7.5 million per episode to approximately $10 million per episode, with the entire 12 episode first season costing $120 million (that puts the musical drama in “Game Of Thrones” territory). And that’s after tax rebates from shooting in New York City. It makes “The Get Down” one of the most expensive shows in history, and certainly Netflix’s most costly to date.
“I would never have believed two years ago that my days and nights, seven days a week, would have been absorbed in this gigantic collaboration,” Luhrmann said. “I’ve never worked with so many people, and I’ve done a lot of things.”
Apparently, he nearly bailed on the show entirely, so overwhelmed by all of the moving parts. That said, the finished result sounds like it could be truly special, even if the first season is being split into two parts, due to the “complexity” of getting it finished.
“It’s very challenging getting the balance of music and story right. It’s not like doing a regular [scripted] TV show. We have full-on dance production numbers in every episode. That all took a lot more time than everyone thought,” said writer Nelson George.
If there’s a second season — Netflix hasn’t renewed the show yet — Luhrmann is already plotting to step aside and let some other hands take the wheel. “I believe the particular techniques we’ve developed for this show can be passed on to a new team,” he said. And maybe for the executives dealing with the headaches the production of season one brought with it, that will be a welcome move.
The first batch of episodes from “The Get Down” arrives on August 12th.