“The Artist,” a Gilded Age murder mystery with a touch of satire, stars Mandy Patinkin, Janet McTeer, Hank Azaria, Danny Huston, Zachary Quinto, Jill Hennessy, Patti LuPone and Clark Gregg.
So, the faces are familiar. The network, not so much. Or, I should say, The Network, not so much.
This is not a “Who’s On First” bit; the show appears on The Network, a tiny new streamer that, despite its nondescript name, is aiming to make a splash with original shows that rely on name recognition. It debuted last year with “The Green Veil,” starring John Leguizamo as a government agent tasked with stopping secrets from getting out.
The Network is putting out eight programs this year – which will include a mix of reality, documentary, and acquisitions, like acclaimed imports “The Jewish Council” and “Chivalry” – and hopes to get to one per month within a year or so. “The Artist,” which debuts Thanksgiving, is its big new scripted showcase.
Like those on its behemoth brethren, this streaming show is available both for free with ads and in a pay-premium format. (It can easily be found on many systems like Roku or through its website.)
Aram Rappaport, who had previously directed indie films, created The Network and then wrote and produced both “The Green Veil” and “The Artist.” He spoke recently by video about his grand ambitions and pragmatic plans. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q. Are you some kind of lunatic?
Probably, a little bit. My background is in the ad space. I directed commercials and then founded an agency called The Boathouse, where we create higher-quality content for less money.
That was the idea for The Network. Could we reverse-engineer the economics behind a streaming platform where we just don’t have to spend so much money? We can create an independent film model, but make it serialized.
Even the top streamers can’t make money and are consolidating. But we saw this opening where we could make premium content that was star-driven, produce it for a fraction of the cost, and offer it for free. And yes, everyone said it was absolutely crazy.
No one believed in it – no one believes the customer is going to stick to it and there’s not enough content there. But I just said, “Look, we’re going to pay for this and launch it,” which may have been the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but we did prove the market generally wrong. We’re seeing insane stickiness, crazy growth.
Q. So why is this the right time for The Network when there’s so much out there already?
From a market perspective, there’s no better time to launch a platform like this because the market is so bad and no one is greenlighting anything. We’re hearing that it’s really hard to get in the room for new people with new ideas. There’s no deficit for creativity.
And thanks to Netflix and the other platforms, people are now used to watching international shows with subtitles, which they weren’t five or ten years ago. And when I was talking to investors, people said “There’s no way you can say ‘premium’ and ‘ad-supported’ in the same sentence,” but that changed within a year, and now everyone’s doing it. So this is an exciting time to do independent television.
We’re at about a little over 2 million active users a month, which is obviously a drop in the bucket for something like Netflix. But our cost per user acquisition is below $2 per user, when the industry norm is above $35 per user, even on a free platform. Our ad agency background has allowed us to be surgical in terms of who we’re targeting. Our paid media is very strategic, and we have partnerships with places like Comcast X1 and Samsung.
We have to fight tooth and nail for every subscriber we get. We haven’t hit that zeitgeisty thing where people say, “Check out The Network” by any means – I think we’re 25 million subscribers away from that. That’s the dream.
But we have been profitable so far.
Q. Did you start with “The Green Veil” or with the idea for the network?
It was a little chicken and egg. We had the idea for a platform, but we didn’t know if we were going to do it or not. And then I talked to John [Leguizamo ] during COVID when no one was really doing anything. We’ve worked together, and we’re great friends. I said I don’t know where this show will end up but let’s make it. Now he’s a partner in the platform. It took us four years after we shot that show to get the platform launched. And that was definitely a learning curve.
Q. Was it important to get more recognizable names people know for “The Artist”?
A thousand percent. Our goal is to be an artist-driven platform that builds itself because there’s enough creators out there with enough fan equity to help us acquire those users. That’s the model. So we need really talented actors and writers and directors who want to work for less money because they’re passionate about a project. We’re looking for indie film people that have had a hit at Sundance and want to stretch elastic narratives within a budget.
And we felt we needed a star-studded tentpole fall release to get us a bump. I’m a CEO and founder of this startup, working 20-hour days to just convince people that you’re legitimate, and I have an ad agency where I’m shooting couch commercials to fund The Network. So then, on a Saturday morning, I’d get up and wonder if I could write a piece about the Gilded Age that would be good enough to attract that talent. We need great creatives who have really out-there ideas that just don’t fit the mold. There’s no way the platform is sustainable if it’s all just me.
Q. The show features historical figures, most notably Edgar Degas and Thomas Edison. You’re obviously taking liberties – Edison didn’t steal the idea for the light bulb from the fictional Marian Henry – but they have a sense of truth to them since Edison was ruthless with other people’s ideas. How did you find the right balance?
I felt like even if this story didn’t happen – but stories like it happened – then we can remove the idea of, ‘Is it real or not?’ and give the audience more license to emotionally connect. And this is a satire, but if we bring in this desperation and show this is theoretically how these real people might have acted, and that’s exciting.
Q. When you’re writing or shooting your shows, do you show restraint or do you take your CEO hat off and just focus on what’s best for the series?
I have both sides in my head. But I’m trying to prove to the market that risks are still worth taking. And the only way is to lead by example. But it’s like a reverse narrative: the creative side is the one saying, “Is this the right thing?” but the CEO side of me is saying, “We should take a big swing.”