'Netflix Is the Most Intoxicating Portal To Planet Earth' (nytimes.com) 94
Instead of trying to sell American ideas to a foreign audience, it's aiming to sell international ideas to a global audience. From an op-ed: In 2016, the company expanded to 190 countries, and last year, for the first time, a majority of its subscribers and most of its revenue came from outside the United States. To serve this audience, Netflix now commissions and licenses hundreds of shows meant to echo life in every one of its markets and, in some cases, to blend languages and sensibilities across its markets. In the process, Netflix has discovered something startling: Despite a supposed surge in nationalism across the globe, many people like to watch movies and TV shows from other countries. "What we're learning is that people have very diverse and eclectic tastes, and if you provide them with the world's stories, they will be really adventurous, and they will find something unexpected," Cindy Holland, Netflix's vice president for original content, told me.
The strategy may sound familiar; Hollywood and Silicon Valley have long pursued expansion internationally. But Netflix's strategy is fundamentally different. Instead of trying to sell American ideas to a foreign audience, it's aiming to sell international ideas to a global audience. A list of Netflix's most watched and most culturally significant recent productions looks like a Model United Nations: Besides Ms. Kondo's show, there's the comedian Hannah Gadsby's "Nanette" from Australia; from Britain, "Sex Education" and "You"; "Elite" from Spain; "The Protector" from Turkey; and "Baby" from Italy. I'll admit there's something credulous and naive embedded in my narrative so far. Let me get this straight, you're thinking: A tech company wants to bring the world closer together? As social networks help foster misinformation and populist fervor across the globe, you're right to be skeptical. But there is a crucial difference between Netflix and other tech giants: Netflix makes money from subscriptions, not advertising.
The strategy may sound familiar; Hollywood and Silicon Valley have long pursued expansion internationally. But Netflix's strategy is fundamentally different. Instead of trying to sell American ideas to a foreign audience, it's aiming to sell international ideas to a global audience. A list of Netflix's most watched and most culturally significant recent productions looks like a Model United Nations: Besides Ms. Kondo's show, there's the comedian Hannah Gadsby's "Nanette" from Australia; from Britain, "Sex Education" and "You"; "Elite" from Spain; "The Protector" from Turkey; and "Baby" from Italy. I'll admit there's something credulous and naive embedded in my narrative so far. Let me get this straight, you're thinking: A tech company wants to bring the world closer together? As social networks help foster misinformation and populist fervor across the globe, you're right to be skeptical. But there is a crucial difference between Netflix and other tech giants: Netflix makes money from subscriptions, not advertising.
Um, what? (Score:5, Interesting)
Someone help me. I can't parse the issue here.
Instead of trying to sell American ideas to a foreign audience, it's aiming to sell international ideas to a global audience.
So what? It's a business strategy, not a social agenda. If it works and that's what people want, bully for them.
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El Internado [wikipedia.org] is from Spain and it's really good. Although it's a very long-form show and I've only had time for one episode so far.
Re:Um, what? (Score:5, Insightful)
For example, an American watching 'The Bodyguard' (TV series) might better understand the difference in attitudes to firearms. I'm not saying one is better than the other, it's just different. Or it might help someone in South Korea better understand British politics when it comes to public policy.
So... there's no "issue", just the observation from Netflix that globally, people are interested in content from other regions, not just the US.
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It's not an issue. What makes you think that's the claim? It's a bit of a surprise to most people, and that's why it's news.
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It's not an issue.
Then why write an article about it.
It's surprising that Netflix has international content? If I'm a subscriber I already know that.
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It's surprising that it's being watched in such large numbers. Not that it exists.
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It's not an issue.
Then why write an article about it.
Perhaps because this is news to Hollywood? To those us us who long-ago discovered non-US entertainment, yeah, it's not news.
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I watch a ton of global content on Netflix. I figured it was there as a cheap value-add for them because of their global content production. I would have never guessed it was as popular to others as it is with me.
And yeah, most of the world has better content these days, even while plenty of countries import our stuff anyway. US media companies are constantly shelving even mildly international content - including NBC's Welcome to Sweden and CTV's Saving Hope (that started as a joint production with a US
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"and that's what people want"
It isn't, Netflix is just shoving this crap down our throats.
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It isn't, Netflix is just shoving this crap down our throats.
Sure, because they decided that spreading internationalism is better than being filthy rich. Also, I have a nice bridge for sale.
Not everything is a conspiracy.
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Oh I'm sure it is all working out for them globally. It's just a terrible waste of money when they could make the content in English with foreign subs and dubs instead of the other way around.
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It's just a terrible waste of money
Netflix would do well to hire someone with their pulse on the international content distribution market, like yourself. I'm sure they just have a room of chimps filling the role now.
I've always wondered.. (Score:2)
I mean, GoT is a fantastic show but is it equally enjoyed by people in China for example? I'm an avid subscriber of Netflix but I must admit, I skip over any show that isn't made in Britain, Canada, or the US... but maybe it sounds like I'm missing out on some awesome TV
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You most certainly are.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1... [imdb.com]
There is an American remake, but it sucks.
Game of Throne (Score:3)
Is there a German or Argentinian version of 'Game of Thrones'
No, but there is a British one on Netflix called "The Crown". However nudity is limited to the occassional ankle, violence is just seemingly polite but extremely biting remarks, weddings are white not red and Hadrian built the wall in the north but once they get to the Brexit era UKIP are will be just like the white-riders that threaten to destroy the kingdom. Try it out - it just might be your cup of tea!
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Is there a German or Argentinian version of 'Game of Thrones'
No, but there is a British one on Netflix called "The Crown".
There's also this show called Game of Thrones which is mainly made in Northern Ireland plus location shoots in Spain, Malta and Croatia and half the cast is British or European...
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South Korea is definitely a rising pop culture global power.
In terms of films produced, the most prolific countries are (in order): India, Nigeria, the US, China, Japan, France, UK, then South Korea. Nigeria is a regional film superpower in Africa, but its cinema largely unknown by American audiences. Likewise while China is the second must *lucrative* film industry in the world after the US, not many of the films made there are seen internationally.
Bollywood by sheer numbers is bound to produce some con
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They have some great movies. I haven't seen the much-mentioned Train to Busan yet, but Pandora is an incredibly tense movie and I loved every minute of it. Technically, I think Snowpiercer is one of theirs even though it is in English and has American/British actors.
It's been refreshing (Score:2)
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The only reason that star please is relied on so heavily is that it's a safer bet than actually waiting a good movie. If they were willing to take a gamble on movies that aren't major sequels or franchises and have new or interesting plots, they wouldn't need to rely on name recognition.
Er (Score:2)
Er, fine, but what's Netflix-y about this?
I watch (English subtitled) Russian versions of Sherlock Holmes stories on Amazon, and there's all sorts of other international stuff on there too.
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That they produce a lot of content natively in all these countries and automatically own the global distribution rights.
Should be opposite of surprise. (Score:3, Insightful)
News flash, for most people what being a "nationalist" means is enjoying and celebrating the uniqueness of your culture. It doesn't mean they want everyone and everything else to be like them - quite the opposite.
Anyone who enjoys travel and visiting people across the world is inherently a nationalist, someone who would not welcome all cultures being ironed out into one boring mass.
So of course people are interested in watching shows that explore other cultures around the world, even if that is secondary to the purpose of the show...
I really like some of the foreign shows Netflix for a unique cultural perspective they bring - my favorite of those is "3%", a show from Brazil that anyone would enjoy. Others like Babylon Berlin are really interesting...
That is a huge shame (Score:2)
I watch all the foreign language stuff with subtitles, the 3% actors were generally excellent so I'm sad to hear the dub was so bad. It held up really well even through season two and had a solid ended, so it's worth trying that out and see if you can grow to like the subtitles...
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Anyone who enjoys travel and visiting people across the world is inherently a nationalist,
Bollocks. People visit nations, yes, but they also visit communities. Those people are communists :p
Seriously though, bollocks. A nationalist is "a person who strongly identifies with their own nation and vigorously supports its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations." It's not someone who likes visiting other nations.
A troll is a person who likes to get other people stirred up by seeming to adopt positions which they know to be nonsense. An idiot is a person w
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Oh they do. Nazi Germany's tourism boomed. First they went in with tanks, then came the KdF tours.
When the boys on top gear suggested Germans come to the UK on holiday "but not all at once" I about lost my shit.
Nationalism (Score:1)
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Good News Bad News (Score:4, Interesting)
Bad news: It is Netflix.
Top Gear! (Score:2)
It is possible for a show to get an International Following even in places it has never been legally licensed.
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Because no one ever watched movies and TV shows from other countries before Netflix. /sarc
Yes, there have always been some. Maybe moreso here in the UK than in the USA. Often dubbed or completely shredded for international audiences. However, you'd have had to subscribe to several specialist cable channels or install a multi-band satellite dish to get anything like the range of international programs currently offered by Netflix as part of their standard service... and Netflix largely serves them up shoulder-to-shoulder with the US/UK programs rather than filing them by nationality. (Not sure
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I half agree. US audiences are famous for hating subtitles. [snip] However, plenty of stuff has made it onto US TV from the earliest days, e.g. Monty Python, Dr. Who, etc.
I really hope that US TV didn't show Python and Dr Who with subtitles... :-) Even their tendency to re-make British shows for the US is probably because they can't conceive of a show being successful if it has less than 100 episodes. (Life on Mars makes me laugh - ISTR the flop US version ran to more episodes before it was cancelled than the jewel-in-the-BBCs-crown original version... although the original probably would have needed US subtitles... "Its teatime - I'm 'avin 'oops!")
But, you kinda miss the
Um, no. No, it is not. (Score:1)
Netflix Canada has what, all of three movies?
Netflix is like a ghost town, with the odd tumbleweed blowing down the main street.
And they refuse to let you filter it out (Score:2)
The ammount of dissappointment is getting too much.
A good movie/series is.... (Score:2)
A good movie or series is a good movie or series, no matter where it's being made.
who would have thought?