Duffer Brothers urge TV bosses to 'choose risk over fear' to find next Stranger Things
Matt and Ross Duffer have opened up on the risks Netflix took on Stranger Things, and why it paid off.
Matt Duffer has urged TV and film bosses to "choose risk over fear" by focusing on original ideas.
The Stranger Things showrunner, who created, wrote and executive produced the Netflix sci-fi hit with his brother Ross, has insisted that the television and movie industry would make "a lot of money" if they embraced "new voices".
Accepting a career honour at the Gotham TV Awards, he said: “I say this to anyone in the room with any level of power: Let’s choose risk over fear.
"Let’s do everything we can to help new voices, make bold personal stories, and then let’s stay out of their way.
“First of all, I would say it’s less work for you. And second, it’s gonna make you a lot of money.
"But most importantly, it’ll result in cooler s***.”
Before landing an enormous "level of trust" from Netflix for Stranger Things, the Duffers hadn't directed television before, let alone served as showrunners on a project.
Despite that, they were still given something of a blank check for the first season.
He recalled: “That level of trust gave us the confidence and the courage to step up.
"The experience we had is so very rare in this industry. And in this age of endless data, and algorithms, it feels rarer than ever, which really worries us.
"But we’re also encouraged by what audiences are responding to right now across TV and film.
"I feel young people are telling us very loudly that they’re hungry for original stories – unfiltered personal visions that haven’t been mangled by a thousand paper cuts.”
Matt's brother Ross admitted that Stranger Things, which ended on New Year's Day with the conclusion of its fifth and final season, was a "crazy risk" for Netflix.
He explained: "I can’t really emphasize what a crazy risk Stranger Things was, how little sense it made on paper.
"You know, all we had was one movie, which Warner Brothers disliked so much they wouldn’t release it, and a weird 50-page script starring kids – but not for kids.
"No one wanted to touch it.”
Netflix executive Matt Thunell saw some potential, and the project eventually reached the desk of then-content chief Ted Sarandos.
Ross said: “What’s amazing is that all these people weren’t just betting on idea or script. They were betting on us.
"They let us showrun, even though we never showrun before. They let us direct, even though we never directed TV before.
"They let us cast whoever we believed in, including David Harbour, who’s here tonight, as well. They never once hovered of our shoulders or asked us to sand off the weird edges.”
