On May 2, news broke out that Netflix's Tudum had laid off several employees. Tudum was a Netflix-owned fan site that was envisioned as a home for bonus content related to popular titles like interviews with the actors, news about trailers and renewals, and behind the scene stories.
The fansite was launched less than six months ago, but its reception was lukewarm.
Netflix's Tudum Lays Off Employees
According to The Verge, a former writer who got laid off compared Tudum to DVD special features and investments that other companies have made into supplementary material.
The former staffer said that the platform builds on an already existing culture of fandom around Netflix shows and is just something that acts as a companion piece, according to Vulture.
However, Tudum has quickly become the latest example of the streaming service's failing to nurture the fandoms.
The company already has a history of canceling shows if they do not reach internal goals with
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In the first season, and it seems to have treated Tudum the same way, cutting off a massive chunk of its staff after it did not produce a sizable return on investment after six months.
No Clear Goal
Interviews with current and former employees suggest that the streaming platform changed its mind about what it wanted from the slew of journalists it brought on.
The staff was met with moving goalposts and a marketing department that was unresponsive to the writer and editor feedback, according to Gizmodo.
What Netflix wanted from Tudum was not clear to everyone involved. In an interview with The Verge, one former writer said that they still do not even know the exact way to pronounce the fan site's name.
The staff was told Tudum would be the place to drop exclusive content before the other media could, but even that was deemed as a problem at the site.
The staffers would watch as other outlets snagged exclusive interviews with the stars of the famous Netflix shows and movies, interviews that even they could not get. The staff can't even get time with the actors that they were supposed to have exclusive access to.
Some staffers expressed their dismay over the situation, with some saying that there is no point in them acting like they have exclusive access when they have less access than other media.
Another tension that grew overtime was the type of work that the writers were allowed to produce and what type of content the fans wanted to see.
The writers knew the job would not be exactly journalism, but still, they were assured during the interview process that they would be able to write about Netflix titles with a critical eye.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Netflix PR representatives often sit in on interviews with stars of the shows, and writers are given lists of topics to avoid discussing that were seen as controversial.
Even topics that Netflix shows address head-on, like assault, which shows like "Cheer" dedicate an entire episode to, were off-limits for writers of Tudum.
It is not clear what Netflix wanted to do with the platform or if there are any adjustments that they will make to improve the situation.
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Written by Sophie Webster
