by Jason Snell
Netflix expands widely
Peter Kafka of Re/code, at CES, interviewed Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on the occasion of the service expanding to 130 more countries. I was amused by Hastings’ surprise at how “Making a Murderer” has become a cult hit:
We started working with the filmmakers two and a half years ago. This whole meme that we jumped on it because of [HBO’s] “The Jinx,” that’s not accurate at all. The filmmakers have been working on this for 10 years. I met with them probably about two years ago. I called it wrong. I thought, “This is going to be eight or 10 hours about a murderer? I hope it wins some awards, because it’s not going to be popular.” And it’s turned into this cult, amazing phenomenon. So I was definitely surprised.
If you liked “Serial” and “The Jinx,” you should check out “Making a Murderer.” (And if you haven’t seen “The Jinx” yet, and you have access to HBO, go watch it right now.)