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Execs will need to stop saying Netflix isn’t investing in Australian production

With season 2 of Glitch, the Free to Air lobby will need to adjust their argument about production investment.

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For the last 18 months or so the Free to Air lobby has been reminding us -and the government- that Netflix doesn’t spend any money on production in Australia.

It’s a fair argument -if the company is spending millions around the world, and happily taking subscriptions from Aussies, then it’s reasonable to ask when they will invest here?

While they have screened Australian titles internationally, these have been acquisitions not funding investment.

However that all changes with Glitch season 2.

Netflix is financially invested in production with ABC on the second season of the Matchbox series. And it is creatively involved. And it is not a token amount.

That’s a first.

So it means network execs, FreeTV, Screen Producers Australia will need to start phrasing their argument with new language. It is now technically incorrect to say Netflix is not spending on investment here. Sure there is a long -very long- way to go to achieve any kind of true equity.

Netflix takes the view that it wants the best TV from around the world so it takes a fairly agnostic approach to where the production is based.

Fingers crossed they ramp up their interest here sooner rather than later.

3 Responses

  1. This is an extremely naïve comment David. Netflix has faced so much pressure from producers across the world that it is politically wise to drip feed into local production to avert government intervention. In France the producers were extremely hostile and Netflix realised it had little choice but to embrace French production fearing government legislation. This is Netflix’s fear here too. Its investment will remain ad hoc and occasional. Unlike the mandatory free to air commercial drama quota and the PAYTV minimum spend formula this does not sustain let alone build a local industry.

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