Prince may have not been on top of the charts when he died, but he was still a legend. And any network worth its salt would want to be involved with a music legend if possible. Well, it looks like Prince was involved in a potential project for Netflix and we have a little information about what that could have ended up being. A friend of Prince's has revealed that Paisley Park studios would have been the focus.
He was supposed to do something with Netflix, a reality show on Paisley Park. He's, 'Why don't you help me?' I'm, 'I'd love to, but you'd have to be in it.' And he's, 'No, no, no, I'm not in it.' I'm, 'Why not? You're so funny---why don't you want anyone to see your sense of humor?' And he would shut it down: 'Maya, I can't be funny. I have to save the world.'
Maya Washington, a photographer who befriended the musical icon after he discovered her work online in 2014, made this revelation to GQ. It sounds like Washington, and, if I had to place a bet, the people at Netflix, wanted Prince to be a visible presence in the show, which would have been a reality program that focused on his Paisley Park compound.
That's right, I'm calling Paisley Park a compound and not just a recording studio, because, if you're Prince, you don't have to do anything on a small scale. The $10 million, 65,000 square foot recording and production complex is called Prince's "mythical creative sanctuary" on the official website. It was built in the mid-1980s after the massive success of Purple Rain to help Prince in any and all of his creative endeavors. He even filmed his movie Graffiti Bridge there, and would use the stage and live event space housed within to hold spontaneous performances for the public.
A peek at the Paisley Park website also indicates that there are probably loads of staffers at the compound. Or, at the very least, enough staffers to make a reality show about the place entertaining. There are jobs available in several different departments, including tour operations, archives, merchandise and ecology. This doesn't take into account the enormous number of other famous musical acts who have used the facilities over the years, and might be likely to show back up. Artists such as Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Celine Deon, R.E.M. and Neil Young have all used the place, so the hope by Netflix that other famous faces could grace the place in the future makes sense.
While the idea that a Paisley Park reality show was in the works at Netflix might seem slightly odd, it does make sense for what we know of the direction that the streaming giant is heading in. Netflix made news just a couple of days ago when they revealed their plan to release no fewer than 20 unscripted shows to the service in 2017 alone. Netflix is clearly looking for shows that would appeal to as many different types of audiences as possible, and a show that might see appearances from musical giants is something that would get the attention of a lot of people.
Well, we can't say at this point if this show about Paisley Park is something that will be coming to Netflix in the near future or not, but I bet we would have all loved to see Prince in his own reality show. Rest in peace, sir.
