The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Alvin I. Dacanay
Four months after introducing its online-streaming service to Filipinos, Netflix said it’s open to showing movies and television shows from other countries, including the Philippines, and to collaborating with local directors and producers in creating original content for it.
In an interview during the #ByahengNetflix media event in Makati City last Wednesday, Netflix Chief Communications Officer Jonathan Friedland said the American internet TV network, contrary to what some people may think, has always been open to featuring non-English-language films and programs, adding that it’s “looking at bringing great content from all over the world to people all over the world.”
“Our teams are looking for great stories from great talent everywhere. We started [producing] original content just three years ago, and [we] just started doing non-English-language originals last year,” Friedland said.
As examples, he cited Netflix’s first French-language original series Marseille, a political thriller starring film icon Gerard Depardieu that debuted in France and elsewhere last Thursday, and its second original film being produced in Asia, a South Korean science-fiction horror movie by Mother and Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-hoo called Okja, which is set to be released next year.
“We have original series being filmed right now in Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, Canada, Mexico [and] Brazil,” the Netflix official said.
According to him, Netflix is producing original movies and TV programs because it wants to make all its content available everywhere.
“If you want licensed content, [acquiring it] becomes very difficult, because of different territorial rights and business interests. So we’ve decided to increase our production in order to make available fresh, new [and] amazing content to people in the Philippines the same time that it’s available in the United States, or in the United Kingdom and Brazil,” Friedland said.
In selecting or producing content for Netflix, Friedland said the company looks for “creators who have a [good] track record. We look for projects that they’re passionate about, and then we determine how good the audience [for them] can be, based on the data we have [for] similar types of movies or TV shows.”
“What we’re trying to do with films, like we do with TV shows, is to build a portfolio of high-quality content of various types that appeals to everybody, from little kids to [grandmothers], that’s available to our members all over the world,” he added.
Friedland said that, since Netflix has been in the Philippines for only a few months, it may take some time to get to know the market and the players.
“Our door is open for any storyteller who has a vision and the capacity to deliver on it. [We want] people who…can deliver at the level we require,” he added.
“We’re not YouTube. We’re making high-quality productions that [we can distribute all over the world],” the Netflix official said.
For local directors and producers interested in working with Netflix, Friedland said that, typically, they “need to have an agent, because the way Hollywood still works, [they] need representation of people who will package [them] and deliver on the basic premise.”
“For independent filmmakers, we generally develop a relationship with them by buying [their] films at festivals, and then working with them over time,” he added.
“The Philippines has a such a great history of independent filmmaking and of really talented professionals. So I think over time, there will be an opportunity [for them to show their works on Netflix], but I just don’t know when that will be,” Friedland said.
In a statement, Netflix said it has “over 81 million members in over 190 countries [who enjoy] more than 125 hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films.”
The company also said it offers three subscription plans based on the number of simultaneous streams and image quality: one screen (standard definition), P370 per month; two screens simultaneously (high definition), P460 per month; and four screens simultaneously (HD and Ultra HD 4K), P550 per month.