5. Attraction Of Talent
NetflixWho are Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Frank Darabont, Oliver Stone, Gus Van Sant and David Fincher? For starters, they are the directors responsible for great films such as Heat, Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, Platoon, Good Will Hunting and Fight Club, but they are also just a selection of directorial talents that have been lured to television in recent years, either to direct episodes of shows or function as showrunners of entire series. It's not just directors that are flocking to the small screen, however, as numerous acting talents have also been making the move in droves in recent years, from Kevin Bacon (who has been heading Fox's serial killer drama The Following) to two time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey (who has been stealing the show as Frank Underwood on Netflix's House of Cards). Just what is attracting such individuals to television, however? Given that is a medium that many of them likely started their careers on before graduating to the world of film, which has always been perceived as much more glamorous and profitable. Increased investment probably isn't harming proceedings (HBO's Game of Thrones has an estimated budget of around $6 million per episode, for instance), but more likely is the fact that television is increasingly being perceived as a place where creative freedom can thrive - films are constricted by their 2-3 hour run times, which only allow so much of a story to be told, television, meanwhile, can run for anything from 4-20 hours per season, allowing a story to be told in much more detail.