Netflix has cancelled development of Pearl, an animated series created by Meghan Markle, in its move to cut costs.
The show, which was announced last year, is one of several projects being dropped by the streaming giant.
Netflix suffered a large stock drop, it has been announced that the streamer has scrapped their upcoming animated children's series Pearl, which was being created by Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. Markle and her husband Prince Harry started their own production company called Archewell Productions and made a deal with Netflix enabling the pair to produce scripted shows, documentaries, films, and children's programs.
Pearl was one of two shows that were in development at Archewell Productions, the other being the docuseries Heart of Invictus. The fate of Heart of Invictusis not clear, but insiders at Netflix seem to be optimistic.
In July, the duchess was “thrilled” and “delighted” to announce that Archewell had partnered with Netflix for “Pearl,” about a young girl inspired by “extraordinary women throughout history.”
“Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life’s daily challenges,” Meghan said in a statement at the time. “I have been eager to bring this special series to light
The cancellation of “Pearl” comes shortly after Netflix laid off an undisclosed number of marketing employees, several of whom voiced their frustration this week on social media. The streamer has been scrambling to cut costs after estimating that it would lose an additional 2 million subscribers in the current quarter.
“Netflix recruited me seven months ago only to lay me and a bunch of other talented people off today,” wrote Evette Dionne, a former Netflix editorial and publishing manager on Twitter. “I’m going to take time off to just exist, so please get in touch if you’ll have editing and content strategy opportunities.”
“Netflix just laid off me and my brilliant team members,” tweeted H. Drew Blackburn, who wrote for Netflix’s pop culture website, Tudum. “Continue to cancel your subscriptions!”
According to the Daily Mail, the streaming giant reportedly shelled out $100 million in the deal with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in September 2020. They have yet to produce any content for Netflix.
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