Filmmakers Hate This New Netflix Feature

It allows content to be sped up or slowed down
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 29, 2019 3:28 AM CDT
Filmmakers Hate New Netflix Feature
The Netflix app on an iPhone in New York.   (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

If you want to binge-watch Stranger Things in record time with the characters sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks, you might like a new feature Netflix is testing—but filmmakers are not happy about it. Netflix is facing a backlash over the new feature, which allows viewers to speed up or slow down content, the Guardian reports. "Don't make me have to call every director and show creator on Earth to fight you on this," tweeted director Judd Apatow. "I will win but it will take a ton of time. Don’t f--- with our timing. We give you nice things. Leave them as they were intended to be seen." In response to a comment, he added: "Distributors don't get to change the way the content is presented. Doing so is a breaking of trust and won't be tolerated by the people who provide it."

The new feature, which is being tested on Android phones, allows users to choose playback speeds of 0.5x, 0.75x, the normal 1.0x, 1.25x. or 1.5x, Entertainment Weekly reports. Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul predicted that there was "no way" Netflix would move forward with the feature. "That would mean they are completely taking control of everyone else’s art and destroying it," he tweeted. "Netflix is far better than that. Am I right Netflix?" A company spokesperson said they are "always experimenting with new ways to help members use Netflix." "This test makes it possible to vary the speed at which people watch shows on their mobiles," the spokesperson said. "As with any test, it may not become a permanent feature on Netflix." (More Netflix stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X