First Kill Creator Blames Netflix Marketing For Show Cancellation

First Kill showrunner Felicia D. Henderson held Netflix accountable when she spoke to The Daily Beast about the streamer’s decision to end her lesbian teen vampire series after just one season. Netflix announced the cancellation on Aug. 2, nearly two months after the eight-episode first season debuted. sources told diversity that Netflix stopped the series because the low viewership did not justify the price for a second season.

“When I got the call that they weren’t renewing the show because the completion rate wasn’t high enough, I was obviously very disappointed,” Henderson said. “What showrunner wouldn’t be? I was told a few weeks ago that they were hoping the completion would be higher. I don’t think that was the case.”

According to Henderson, Netflix’s marketing for “First Kill” wasn’t exactly ideal. She explained, “The art for the initial marketing was beautiful. I think I expected that this would be the beginning and that the other equally compelling and important elements of the show – monster versus monster slayer, the battle between two powerful matriarchs, etc. – would eventually be promoted, and that didn’t happen. ”

However, Henderson still tipped her hat off to Netflix because “they licensed the intellectual property, paid for a pilot script, and gave it a healthy production budget.”

“The creative team was very supportive as we shot the show in harrowing conditions — before Atlanta, which was a very crowded production center, had ‘Vaccines For All,'” the showrunner added.

“First Kill” quickly gained a passionate following on social media, and as Henderson noted, “The show is awesome and we were in the top 5 globally and nationally for three of the first four weeks. I was very hopeful [we’d get a second season].”

“I signed up for this show so enthusiastically [because] It has something for everyone – strong female leads, supernatural intrigue, an epic Shakespearean skirmish between feuding families and a prominent black family in the genre space, something black viewers crave and a general audience needs to be treated to,” concluded Henderson .

The first and only season of First Kill is streaming now on Netflix.