Open that door? Netflix explores choose-your-own horror, romance

Los Angeles - A Netflix Inc

experiment that began with viewers picking a movie character's

breakfast cereal may expand to letting the audience choose the

best on-screen date or the safest path to escape an ax murderer.

The world's largest streaming service wants to try out more

interactive entertainment following the response to

science-fiction movie "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch," executives

told reporters this week.

The company is looking for possibilities across genres such

as comedy, horror and romance, said Todd Yellin, Netflix's vice

president of product.

"Why can't you have a romantic title where you get to choose

who she goes out with?" Yellin said. "Or horror titles. Should

you walk through that door, or should you dive out that window

and get the heck out of there? You can make the choice."

In "Bandersnatch," the first decision viewers could make was

whether a character would eat Sugar Puffs or Frosties for

breakfast.

The idea was to give audiences a simple choice to encourage

them to test the technology, which involved clicking via a

remote or tapping on the screen to select an option. The movie

kept playing even if the viewer did not choose.

The cereal scene became an Internet sensation when

"Bandersnatch" was released last December.

"Like many of you, I got addicted to 'Bandersnatch' and

trying to figure out what's the significance of the cereal, and

not the cereal, all the different options," Netflix Chief

Executive Reed Hastings said.

The film provided feedback about how long people want to

engage with interactive programming and how many choices they

want to make, Hastings said. After the cereal decision, viewers

selected things such as the type of music a character would play

or whether they would jump off a building.

When viewers can direct a story, they feel "really with the

character," Yellin said. "You are more viscerally feeling what

they are feeling. You just made the choice for them."

That is why Yellin wants to try the format in other stories

where characters face immense consequences. "Horror is life and

death situations constantly," he said. And in romances, "the

emotional stakes are high."

Yellin said the effort is in its early stages, and Hastings

suggested he does not see interactive entertainment replacing

traditional storytelling.

"I don't know if I would do it every day," Hastings said,

"but as part of my viewing, it's pretty exciting."

Netflix already has produced a handful of interactive shows

for kids, who were immediately receptive to the idea, Yellin

said.

"Kids don't have established rules," he said. "They assume

that's the way the world should be and they'll try it." 

Reuters