Ten years ago today, Orange is the New Black premiered on Netflix. Along with House of Cards, which came out a few months earlier, it was one of our very first Netflix series.
In the decade since, we’ve produced many other shows and movies, but I’ll never forget what it felt like to launch those first few.
It’s easy to hear some of the stories from those early days — about how we ordered two seasons of House of Cards up front and promised there would be no notes — and think we were taking a chance. But that’s not really true.
Because creators like David Fincher and Jenji Kohan were so proven and so talented, and their scripts were so good, they could have gone anywhere. Instead they chose to partner with Netflix, a company that had never made or released an original anything. And they agreed to release an entire season all at once, which no one had ever done before. So in reality they were the ones taking a chance. And we’re incredibly fortunate that they did.
While everyone remembers Orange is the New Black and House of Cards, our first slate also included Marco Polo, an action adventure series; Hemlock Grove, a horror series; and a reboot of Arrested Development, a comedy. And by the time those shows were being released we had already greenlit Ricky Gervais’ single cam dramedy Derek; the adult animated BoJack Horseman; Bloodline, a mystery thriller; The Get Down, a hip-hop origin story from Baz Lurhmann; and the acclaimed and still-running documentary series Chef’s Table. Because we learned early on in the DVD days that variety matters.
Today, we have hundreds of millions more members from all around the world, and they watch on average six different genres every month. It’s why we continue to focus on variety, investing in shows and movies across genres, cultures, and languages.
To celebrate the last decade, we’ve created a collection highlighting some of our first and some recent Netflix series. It’s our way of saying thanks to the creators who took a chance on us, and everyone who has watched — and loved — these shows ever since.
Authored by Ted Sarandos,co-CEO, Netflix