Rotten Tomatoes Scores Used By Studios To Decide Which Director To Hire, New Report Suggests

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Summary Rotten Tomatoes scores increasingly impact directors' job opportunities, according to a report from THR.

One director representative says that critical acclaim is "gamified," with studios using the scores to decide who to hire.

Rotten Tomatoes scores coming into prominence in studio decision-making mirrors their previous approach to box office.

Rotten Tomatoes has become increasingly important in directors getting more jobs, according to a new report. The review-aggregator website, which was originally launched in 1998, calculates a score out of 100% to assess the proportion of positive and negative reviews for a given movie or television title, with anything 60% and above considered "Fresh," or generally positive. Although other aggregator sites like Metacritic have found success alongside it in the years since it was launched, Rotten Tomatoes remains one of the most prominent online resources for measuring critical reception in the entertainment industry.

The Hollywood Reporter recently ran a report about the difficulties directors are facing in finding new projects. A director representative who was interviewed for the piece shared their opinion that "critical acclaim is now gamified." They revealed that the Rotten Tomatoes scores for directors' previous works are a go-to resource for producers deciding who to hire, and it "inevitably affects decision-making." An executive's rebuttal supports this claim but seemingly defends the process, sharing that when picking a director, "all you have is their past work and a meeting." Read their full quotes below:

Director Representative: Critical acclaim is now gamified. The Rotten Tomatoes score is the first thing people look at when I go pitch a director. It inevitably affects decision-making around hiring a director. Executive: When you hire a director, all you have is their past work and a meeting.

More to come...

Source: THR