Matt Duffer Says Young Audiences Demand Fresh, Unfiltered Storytelling

Matt Duffer, co‑creator, showrunner, and executive producer of Stranger Things with his brother Ross, accepted a career honor at the Gotham TV Awards on Monday. While he didn’t name specific titles, the brothers’ recent YouTube‑driven successes were clearly on his mind as he spoke to the crowd at New York’s Cipriani Wall Street.

He recalled that, despite having never directed television or served as showrunners, Netflix gave the Duffer Brothers a relatively blank check a decade ago when the series began. “That level of trust gave us the confidence and the courage to step up,” Matt Duffer said. “Such an experience is rare in this industry, and in an age dominated by data and algorithms it feels even rarer, which worries us. Yet we’re encouraged by what audiences are responding to right now across TV and film. Young people are telling us loudly that they’re hungry for original stories—unfiltered personal visions that haven’t been diluted by endless revisions.”

Backrooms, which originated from a popular YouTube channel and a 4chan post, opened to $81 million last weekend. Obsession, directed by former YouTuber Curry Barker, has unusually increased its box‑office take over three weekends and is now Focus Features’ top‑grossing U.S. release.

“I say this to anyone in the room with any level of power: let’s choose risk over fear. Let’s do everything we can to help new voices, make bold personal stories, and then stay out of their way,” Duffer continued. “First, it’s less work for you. Second, it’ll make you a lot of money. Most importantly, it’ll result in cooler stuff.”

The audience responded with a hearty cheer, echoing similar applause earlier in the weekend for indie stalwart Mark Duplass. The Visionary Award for the Duffers was one of five non‑competitive honors presented, alongside recipients such as Kerry Washington, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, and the ensemble cast of FX’s Love Story. Apple TV’s To Many and HBO Max’s I Love LA and DTF: St. Louis were among the night’s major winners. This marks the third year of Gotham’s TV awards, a spin‑off of its long‑standing film ceremony that helps launch Oscar season.

The Duffers also highlighted the surprising origins of Stranger Things. The fifth and final season set a New Year’s Day viewing record last January, garnering 31.5 million views in its first four days.

“I can’t stress enough how risky Stranger Things was, how little sense it made on paper,” Ross Duffer said. “We only had a rejected movie, which Warner Brothers refused to release, and a strange 50‑page script about kids—though not for kids. No one wanted to touch it.”

Eventually, Netflix executive Matt Thunell saw its potential and brought it to former Netflix programming lieutenant Cindy Holland and then‑content chief Ted Sarandos (both now heads of Paramount’s television and direct‑to‑consumer operations, respectively, and attendees at the Gotham ceremony).

“What’s amazing is that these people weren’t just betting on an idea or script. They were betting on us,” Duffer marveled. “They let us showrun, even though we’d never done it before. They let us direct, even though we’d never directed TV. They let us cast whoever we believed in, including David Harbour, who’s here tonight. They never hovered over our shoulders or asked us to smooth out the weird edges.”

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