Marco Polo - Netflix Original Series

[doug maverick]

i honestly dont get the bad press this is getting, it feel engineered to be quite honest, its very rare that the press says one thing and pretty much everybody who has watched it says another. right now netflix is a very clear and present danger, so alot of animosity is aimed at the company so i wouldnt be surprised if more of their stuff gets poorly reviewed by professional critics...its all engineered that way.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Every person I now that has seen it has loved it.
Everyone.
I can tell you that was NOT the case with Games of Thrones for example.

Honestly, it looks like the critics are going out of their way to find something to pick on.

[GeneChing]

Read Creating the World of the Warrior: John Fusco and Marco Polo By Lori Ann White

[sanjuro_ronin]

Nice article Gene.
I really enjoyed the kung fu in this series.
It was nicely done with just the right hint of "silliness".
The praying mantis was nice and the final fight between Ji Dao and 100 eyes was sweet

[David Jamieson]

Just finished watching this series first season.

Lot's a Kung Fu used in the show, old weapons, stylistic fighting like Praying Mantis in particular.

I really liked it and look forward to the next season.

Good choice of character to adapt in Marco Polo. There are so many diverse versions of his story that it's pretty much a prompt for great fiction.

Anyone else watch it?

[PalmStriker]

Just us guys: http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/...riginal-Series

[GeneChing]

JAN 7 2 HRS
Netflix's 'Marco Polo' Renewed for Second Season
9:07 AM PST 1/7/2015 by Lesley Goldberg

The streaming service also sets premiere dates for 'Daredevil,' 'Grace and Frankie' and more



Netflix opened the semi-annual Television Critics Association's winter press tour with a bit of breaking news: Period drama Marco Polo will be back for a second season.
The drama, originally developed for Starz, will return for a second round of 10 episodes, with production returning later this year.
The series launched in December to mixed reviews — THR's chief TV critic Tim Goodman was not kind to it — but Marco Polo represents a major international push for the streaming platform.
The drama, produced by the Weinstein Co. and Electus, stars Lorenzo Richelmy as Marco and features a cast that includes Benedict Wong, Joan Chen, Zhu Zhu, Chin Han, Olivia Cheng, Tom Wu, Remy Hii, Uli Latukefu, Mahesh Jadu, Claudia Kim and Rick Yune. The drama was created by John Fusco and counts exec producers including Dan Minahan, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg.
Netflix on Wednesday also announced premiere dates for new series including Marvel's Daredevil (April 10), Bloodline (March 20), The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (March 6) as well as Grace and Frankie (May 8).
Marco Polo joins a roster of originals at Netflix including BoJack Horseman, The Crown, House of Cards, Longmire, Love, Narcos, Orange Is the New Black and more.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit

John Fusco had whispered to me that Season 2 was a go a few weeks ago, but he told me to keep it secret until the announcement was made.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Swweeetttt :P

[PalmStriker]

Most Excellent !

[MasterKiller]

I finished the first season. I thought it was pretty good. The kung fu stuff is really not necessary, but they do a good job with it. The "blind" Wu Dang monk is a bit much, but he's such a bad ass that I don't care how cheesy the concept is....I think Kublai Khan steals the show. He's my favorite character.

Plus.....tons of hot Asian tittays.

[GeneChing]

With some fb memes from our JAN+FEB 2015 cover story

[GeneChing]

The series really is a gamechanger on so many levels.

12/29/2014 @ 1:38PM 2,958 views
Why Growing Content Costs Are A Necessary Evil For Netflix
Trefis Team , Contributor

Marco Polo premiered on Netflix on December 12, 2014. The company reportedly spent $90 million on the production of the first season (10 episodes) of the series and the show was supposed to be Netflix’s answer to HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones. However, the response towards the show has been tepid. Marco Polo might get a second chance to impress the audience as Netflix has a tendency of ordering second seasons for its shows regardless of the response they generate. But in its current state, it seems unlikely that Marco Polo will be able to captivate the audience in the way that Game of Thrones has done. This is not the only big bet that Netflix is making in terms of the original content. It has also announced a five-season deal with Marvel Television (a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) to produce four live action series and a mini-series focused on four Marvel superheroes – Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage. According to Wall Street Journal, the production of these shows will cost Disney around $200 million. Both these deals are part of a roster of 30+ upcoming original series that Netflix plans to broadcast in 2015 and 2016. The spending does not end with original content either. Netflix has been shelling out some serious cash to acquire the rights to various popular TV series shown on other channels. According to Deadline, Netflix signed a deal with Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution to broadcast the show Gotham for a reported $1.75 million per episode. It reportedly signed similar deals for other shows such as The Blacklist ($2 million per episode) and AMC’s The Walking Dead ($1.35 million per episode) among others. Increasing content costs are putting pressure on Netflix’s margins but this spending holds merit and is vital to Netflix’s success in the coming years.

Our price estimate for Netflix stands at $299, implying a discount of about 12% to the market.

Increased Costs Mean More Pressure On Margins

Content costs have been rising steadily for Netflix. According to its third quarter 2014 results, streaming content obligations increased from around $7.2 billion at the end of 2013 to more than $8.8 billion as of September 30, 2014, an increase of more than $1.6 billion in the first nine months of 2014. Content expenses, which include the amortization of the streaming content library and other expenses associated with the licensing and acquisition of streaming content, are the largest cost component for Netflix and account for over 70% of the total expenses. The cost of revenues came in at $2.73 billion, an increase of around $430 million year over year. This increase was mainly due to content expenses increasing by more than $376 million, from $1.6 billion to $1.97 billion, in the same period. The effect of increasing content costs can be felt in the contribution margins of both the domestic and international streaming segments. This is especially true for the international segment which has not been profitable on a contribution basis until now. We expect the contribution margin for the international segment to be around -14.5% for the year 2014 and to break even in 2015. However, the continued pressure from increasing content costs, along with the high marketing costs incurred for international operations, could result in lower margins for the next couple of years.

An Unavoidable Exercise

Improvement in Netflix’s online content has been the cornerstone of its subscriber growth for the past two years. Improving content quality has helped Netflix retain its top position in online streaming, keeping competitors such as Amazon and Hulu at bay. The focus on original programming has been paying off and the success of original series such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black has added an extra dimension to the company’s online content. Now not only does Netflix have quality programming sourced from other studios, but it has quality programming of its own which is available nowhere else. But it needs to keep on dishing out quality original programming in the future too if it wants to maintain the air of exclusivity that it has acquired. Even if Marco Polo does not live up to expectations, Netflix needs to find another hit in the group of shows it has lined up in 2015 to keep the audience hooked. Netflix also needs to keep faith in its selection process. It chooses its content based on the meticulous analysis of its customers’ watching habits, and this strategy has yielded results in the past. The negative reaction to Marco Polo is not unprecedented either. HBO has cancelled six shows after only one season in the last three years and such cancellations are common and more widespread for traditional pay-TV networks. The advantage that Netflix has over pay-TV content providers is that it has lesser opportunity cost. If a customer does not like a TV show on Netflix, he can always move on to another show. A pay-TV channel by contrast dedicates a time slot to a TV show and faces a much bigger opportunity cost. This allows Netflix to take more chances with its content. In the end, Netflix needs to keep investing and continue buying original content, renewing content and acquiring international rights in order to produce enough quality material to keep its subscriber base interested.

[GeneChing]

....on Twitter no less.

Netflix US ‏@netflix

Follow @MarcoPoloMP Monday 11EST/8PST for a Q&A with Tom Wu, aka Hundred Eyes! Submit Qs using #AskHundredEyes

[PalmStriker]

Morin Khuur, the soundtrack instrument featured in the Marco Polo Series: https://video.search.yahoo.com/video...t=mozilla&tt=b

[GeneChing]

NOT

Hulu is offering an earlier mini-series based on Marco Polo for free now. The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo(2000), originally the The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo on His Journeys to the Ends of the Earth (1998). it's a Ukrainian production, more of a sword-and-sorcery fantasy flick than anything historical. The amusing thing is that when you view the icon on Hulu+, they've titled it just 'Marco Polo' with a red font that emulates the Netflix logo. Alas, Hulu+. We love the Criterion collection, but so many knock-offs...