[ Written by Roopak Saluja]
It’s unfolding around us. It has been for a while.
THE BEGINNING
When: Jan 6, 2016
Where: CES, Las Vegas
Who: Reed Hastings
What: He announces Netflix going live in 130 countries in one fell swoop.
Not…“…it’s about to go live” or “will go live on (MONTH DD)” (à la new iPhone, etc)
But *ultimate flex*, “While we have been here on stage at CES, we switched Netflix on in Azerbaijan…in Vietnam…in India…in Nigeria…in Poland…in Russia…in Saudi Arabia…in Singapore…in South Korea…in Turkey…in Indonesia…and in 130 new countries. While you have been listening to me talk, the Netflix service has gone live in nearly every country of the world but China, where we hope to also be in the future.”
*audience laughs and applauds*
“Today, right now, you are witnessing the birth of a global TV network…”
***
Ever since that fateful day, we’ve been living in a new content paradigm…one where audiences around the world are consuming content from around the world.
So yeah…like I said, Decentralization of Hollywood or #DOH is unfolding around us since that moment. Haven’t you noticed?
Here are just some of the signs:
- According to Bela Bajaria, who, as honcho-in-chief of Global TV at Netflix, reports to Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos, as on Aug 2021, 97% of American subs have watched a non-English title in the past year. That number is monumental. But even more remarkable is the trajectory- that number grew by 71% since 2019. Also, the Big N has made shows in 40 countries and does subtitles in 37 languages and dubs in 34. Wasn’t it just last year, that #BongJoonHo asked audiences at the Oscars to overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles?
- Speaking of which, if #Parasite winning Best Picture (NOT BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM) wasn’t a big NEON sign (See what I did there?) that #DOH was firmly underway, I don’t know what is.
- Israel, a country of 9M that makes content mainly in Hebrew, a language spoken by around that many people, has had a major impact on global content over the past few years. Two main players, both products of legacy broadcast and satellite players, dominate: Keshet with #PrisonersOfWar, remade in India & Russia, but most notably by Showtime as #Homeland, and #FalseFlag, now being remade as #Suspicion by Apple TV+, as their biggest show to date ($97M is what I’m hearing), starring Uma Thurman, Kunal Nayyar, Noah Emmerich and a bunch of others. And Yes Studios led by the talented and dynamic Danna Stern and home to Netflix’s mega-hit, #Fauda (Who doesn’t know Doron? Lior Raz is a global star now. Also, there’s an Indian remake, now going into Season 2, by Sameer Nair-led Applause), #Shtisel and #YourHonor (also remade by Showtime, starring Bryan Cranston of #BreakingBad fame). And then there’s #Tehran, which didn’t come out of either of the majors but owes its global hit status to Cineflix. Season 2 is being done by former Cineflix exec, Julien Leroux’s Paper Entertainment. Oh wait, there’s also #HitAndRun, Raz’s Netflix Original in English and Hebrew. Anyway, point made more than adequately.
- Lupin with French superstar, Omar Sy, in the lead totally transcended borders and languages…but not as much as mega hit, La Casa De Papel/#MoneyHeist, which has been watched by the majority of Netflix subs around the world…and it’s being remade in India and Korea. All this while the original version en Español continues to resonate- in India at least, no idea about Korea. While the US numbers may not be as big as globally, I can bet you memes with red hoodies and Dali masks will resonate with the bicoastal elite.
- We actually had a London/Europe studio decline one of our scripted projects, #FUEL, set a few decades ago between New York City, Punjab, Delhi and West Berlin, because it was too American. That confused me. And it says something about #DOH. Not entirely sure what though.
- Abu Dhabi petrodollars, Indian money, Canada tax-payer money and of course, Chinese whatever kind of money have been fuelling Hollywood’s expansion for over a decade now (perhaps longer in the case of Canada). Not sure of the fate of Chinese capital and that’s a topic that deserves a whole other conversation.
- The two biggest Hollywood agencies, CAA and WME, have Global Television departments. I guess UTA, ICM, Paradigm, APA and the others probably have something similar.
- It’s not just Netflix that’s eating the world. Disney Plus, of course got a major boost in subs by integrating with Hotstar in India and has been happily rolling out across the world since. Korea is the next-up important launch in November. More significantly, Disney is making a lot of noise about investing in local production everywhere of late. HBO Max is on a spree- LatAm ✅, Northern Europe next month, Central Eastern Europe next year, Asia probably late 2022/early 2023.
CONCLUSION:
#DOH is on like Donkey Kong! Hollywood, unlike Bollywood is a physical location, as well as a concept (I can’t tell you how many visitors to Bombay tell me they want to “go to Bollywood”). What we’re experiencing right now in the case of #DOH is the decoupling of the location and the concept of “Hollywood”. Los Angeles and its Thirty Mile Zone #TMZ will continue to rule as the global entertainment hub.
But not solo. And that, my friends, is what I call the #DecentralizationOfHollywood
Thoughts, more evidence, counter-points, contradictions – all welcome.
