Netflix’s Global Content Ambitions Look a Lot Like Lupin

Netflix’s French-language thriller Lupin isn’t just a heart-pounding heist series. Look closely enough, and you’ll see that underneath all of the twists and turns, it is a perfect representation of Netflix’s global content ambitions. “The show was not a watered-down French show—it’s a very French show,” Netflix chief content officer and co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in April. “As you tell stories from around the world, the more authentically local they are, the more likely they are to play around the world because people recognize the authenticity of the storytelling.” The proof of Sarandos’ thesis is in the viewership numbers for the Omar Sy-led series. The show became an international phenomenon when its first five episodes (Part 1) were released on Netflix in early January. Seventy-six million households from around the world watched Lupin in its first 28 days on the service, making it the biggest new series on Netflix in the world that quarter, according to Sarandos. The second part of Lupin, consisting of an additional five episodes, was released on Friday. As Netflix sees which shows become global breakout hits, the company is laser-focused on finding new Lupins to bring to the service, either through original series or targeted content acquisitions. “The one thing that we really have done, really sharpened our skills on the last couple of years, has been creating content from anywhere in the world and playing it all over the world,” Sarandos told investors during Netflix’s first-quarter results. “Our ability to do this around the world at scale and being able to bring those stories to a big global audience is something that we're really incredibly proud of and we'll keep working on over the next couple of years.” Global benefits The reasoning is relatively simple. Netflix is an increasingly global company—the company’s 74 million customers in the U.S. and Canada represent just over a third of the company’s overall subscriber base, which last quarter cleared 207 million—and international viewers are increasingly crucial to lock down as Netflix looks for more places to expand. Shows with both local and global appeal serve as a way to stretch Netflix’s content budget, which will reach a staggering $17 billion in 2021 alone, by doing double-duty in the streamers’ content library. “We’re increasingly seeing that these local titles find significant audiences around the world, which supports our thesis that great stories are universal: they can come from anywhere and be loved anywhere,” the company told investors in a shareholder’s letter in April. Luckily for Netflix, customers are more primed to watch subbed and dubbed content than ever before, due to global entertainment trends that have introduced more international programming into the cultural repertoire. "Once you overcome the 1-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” Parasite director Bong Joon-ho now-famously said at the 2020 Oscars. Regional priorities Some local regions are a higher priority than others, and Netflix has in recent quarters been focused on the Asia-Pacific region, which represented about a third of the company's member growth in its most recent quarter. The company has invested heavily in originals, including anime programming, some of which have broken through to international audiences while also satiating local viewers' content appetites. In fact, two anime originals—the samurai series Yasuke and the sci-fi series Eden—are the focus of two apparel and product lines Netflix is selling on a brand-new ecommerce site (which is available only in the U.S.). “What we've [found] in our Korean originals and our Japanese anime is that they play really well around the region, as well as in country, and occasionally can be very, very global in their interest and desire,” Sarandos said in April. “The fact that we can bring a global audience to those creators in each of the territories has been really attractive.” Other titles are also breaking through in different regions. Mexican murder mystery thriller Who Killed Sara? attracted an estimated 55 million viewers in its first four weeks on the service and became Netflix’s most popular non-English title ever in the U.S. in its first 28 days, the company previously said. Netflix's other international hits include La Casa de Papel from Spain, which was released in the U.S. under the title Money Heist, and Unorthodox, the German-American miniseries that won a cascade of accolades. The streamer has made structural and executive shifts that underscore the company's growing focus on its international growth ambitions. In September, Sarandos elevated Bela Bajaria, Netflix's former czar of local language originals, to the position of vice president of global TV. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bajaria said she was focused on authenticity as her measure for a show that can travel well. "People think, like, 'What is an international show?'" Bajaria said. "It’s like, no, what’s an authentic show? What’s a vision of a creator, in any language, in any country, that’s great?" Netflix Dominates Golden Globes Nominations, With Linear TV Largely Sidelined

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Netflix’s Global Content Ambitions Look a Lot Like Lupin

Streamer is focused on finding shows that perform locally and travel well

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Kelsey Sutton

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