Netflix today signaled a substantial new investment in France with the opening of its new Paris office and a content roadmap that will see the streaming service nearly double the number of French language originals it has actually produced so far. Because 2014, Netflix has produced 24 productions in French, consisting of 6 films and 9 television series.
Netflix is doing similar expansions throughout the globe, consisting of elsewhere in Europe and in South America.
Last July, the number of Netflix consumers in the US decreased For the first time ever. That’s made Netflix’s focus on worldwide expansion more important than ever previously.
Netflix has had effective run with foreign language programs, including Spanish language criminal activity thriller strikes like Narcos and Cash Break-in and German language sci-fi program Dark It’s likewise advanced with some of its foreign language films, consisting of Oscar chosen Roma from Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón. And Netflix is investing heavily in Japanese language content, including protecting the worldwide streaming rights to the legendary Hideaki Anno anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, as another sector of the streaming wars now consists of an intensifying bidding war for sought-after animated films and reveals both new and old.
Yet while expanding its presence in a country like France is perhaps good for company, there’s likewise a legal reason at play. The European Parliament completed in October 2018 brand-new regulation regarding Netflix and other streaming services’ presence in the EU that mandates that at least 30 percent of all content continued the platform be initially produced in the area. Amazon, Netflix, and other companies have up until September 2020 to strike that quota. It’s likely Netflix’s brand-new financial investments in Germany, Italy, and France will help it do so.
There’s also Netflix’s rather controversial relationship with the French cinema community, after the company’s prominent showdown with the Cannes Movie Celebration over contest eligibility requirements. Netflix was prohibited back in 2018 from competing for the celebration’s most prominent awards due to its restricted theatrical runs, which contravened of France’s new rules around regional releases and, more broadly, the country’s cultural dedication to cinema as an organization.
Netflix then pulled out of the festival officially, and it did not submit any films for the 2019 Cannes. So a new, dedicated existence in Paris and a substantial increase in its financial investment in local productions might assist smooth over that once-soured relationship.
