'The Get Down' Cancellation News: Show Creator Addresses Fans on Why Netflix Cut Off the Show
Shortly after the show "The Get Down" was reportedly canceled by Netflix, showrunner Baz Luhrmann addressed fans and explained why it was cut off.
In a lengthy letter to the fans of the show, Luhrmann admitted that he could not juggle working on "The Get Down" season 2 and making movies, which was one of the reasons why Netflix had to cancel the show.
Luhrmann went to his official Facebook page and explained that when he was tapped to conceptualize "The Get Down," the work required him to "defer a film directing commitment for at least two years."
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According the "The Get Down's" co-creator, the "exclusivity" that the show required from him turned out to become a "sticking point" for Netflix and Sony. Without it, the companies were prompted to cancel the show.
The show's cancellation came as a surprise for fans considering its breakout success and Luhrmann's previous statement in a Variety interview last month on how Netflix and Sony were very much "driven" to produce a second season.
In the said interview, Luhrmann said: "Sony and Netflix have been very driven about having a second season. There has been no question about that. They really want it." He also revealed that season 2's opening was already in development at the time.
However, in the same interview, Luhrmann had already indicated the conflicts of having him as the showrunner, as he said, "I never saw myself as the showrunner."
He then revealed that the studios tried to look for a showrunner to replace him. While they found people with "great credentials," the season 2 project "just wasn't moving forward."
At that point, Luhrmann had already been honest that he could not go on exclusively working on "The Get Down," which is naturally required in any showrunner. He said, "I cannot really be at the center of it."
"The Get Down" season 1 was released in two halves. The first half was shown in August 2016 and the other was released on April 7. The show gathered much support for its unique storyline built around the rise of hip-hop and disco music, with the narrative seen from the perspective of the teenage characters living in Bronx, New York.
