Co-chief executive officer Sarandos said his company will bankroll training programmes for the next generation of auteurs and entertainers, both in front of and behind the camera. — AFP
SEOUL: Netflix Inc promised to back and cultivate the South Korean showrunners and studios behind viral shows like Squid Game, outlining how it plans to spend some of the US$2.5bil (RM11.6bil) it’s earmarked for K-drama.
Co-chief executive officer Ted Sarandos said his company will bankroll training programmes for the next generation of auteurs and entertainers, both in front of and behind the camera.
Netflix will work with local organisations to identify and groom young talent, he added.
Those initiatives underscore how South Korean programmes like The Glory have in past years emerged as a surprise catalyst for Netflix, which needs hot original content to differentiate it from rivals such as Walt Disney Co and Apple Inc.
About three-fifths of Netflix’s users have watched a South Korean show, and viewing time for those programmes has grown six-fold in just four years, he said.
About 90% of the viewers for South Korean romance-genre content hail from abroad, Sarandos said.
Netflix in April pledged to spend US$2.5bil (RM11.6bil) over the next four years in the country.
South Korea has already become one of Netflix’s biggest suppliers of TV shows and films, helping fuel a surge in global subscriptions as more consumers tune in to South Korean dramas and reality shows.
But the boom has drawn protests from local content creators who complain they haven’t shared proportionately in that success, and from Internet providers who want Netflix to pay for a spike in online streaming activity.
Sarandos is visiting Seoul for three days to discuss its investment plans with South Korean production partners and government officials, including Prime Minister Han Duk-soo. — Bloomberg
