Storytelling comes in many shapes and forms, and one of the most entertaining ways, that especially dominated the pandemic, is that of television. Streaming platforms and their increased popularity since then have redefined television. These platforms remodeled how stories are developed, from casting to marketing, and resultantly how success in this industry is measured.
For actors working in this space, this change brought both new opportunities and new challenges. Jessie Mei Li, who rose to prominence through her lead role in Shadow and Bone, has continued to build her career with projects such as The Season, giving her firsthand experience of what these changes mean in the film industry.
You've worked on globally distributed productions like Shadow and Bone. From your experience, how do you believe the scale of streaming platforms has changed the way stories are developed and greenlit?
From what I see, streamers are playing a risky game, where they greenlit many different projects and then wait and see what sticks. It seems sometimes that some streamers make decisions based on what resonates with audiences (most of social media) and due to the fact that many shows are marketed as bingeable, with all episodes available at once — the decisions are often made quite quickly based on “buzz”.
As we know, IP that already exists is guaranteed an audience already and that's why there's fewer original shows being made. I think there's a lot of emphasis put on creating “viral moments” or Easter eggs for fans, which are fun, but can alienate some audiences when these decisions end up weakening the story.
There is also reliance on having “names” on your cast list, the same actors over and over again, which means we see fewer fresh faces, and I always love when I get to see someone new and exciting rather than the same people all the time. I do think this is a shame as some shows don't find their audience with such immediacy and become sleeper hits, but by the time people are buzzing about them, they've already been cancelled.
Streaming has accelerated cross-border casting and global distribution. Has this shift genuinely broadened opportunity, or has it simply reshaped existing industry gatekeeping?
I can't really say for sure, but I feel lucky that in this instance with The Season they cast a wide net to bring together our cast. We are from all over the world — literally! — and it made for such a fascinating work process and dynamic. Everyone is so different, yet still so similar, and I'm delighted to have so many different friends with sofas to crash on internationally.
There has been significant conversation around authentic representation in recent years. From inside the industry, do you feel representation has become structurally embedded in decision-making, or is it still largely driven by optics?
I think it's a mixture of both.
I feel like slowly we are seeing more authentic representation — which comes from green lighting projects created by people from all different walks of life, rather than the same homogenous creators using “diverse” casting to colour in their projects.
There's still a long way to go, but I think people are realising how much they like authentic stories, regardless of who's telling them and what people find off-putting is being pandered to.
Streaming platforms increasingly rely on algorithms to surface and recommend content. With a series like The Season, which blends luxury drama with an international cast, do you feel creative decisions today are influenced by what data suggests audiences want to watch?
I think that social media is unavoidable and plays a huge role in almost every facet of our lives nowadays. I've been made aware on several different occasions by the people making decisions about casting that someone's “following” and popularity online is a huge consideration. Perhaps I've benefitted from this myself, which is a disconcerting thought, but I hope I've proved myself right for the roles I've played.
At the end of the day, this industry is a business and decisions will be made with a business mindset, but we can only hope that real artistry is also being celebrated and even if the creative decisions have been influenced by what appears to be most “marketable”, that at least the creative team behind it are given enough free rein to make something interesting and original.
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*Image courtesy of contributor and Canva