Studios, where international programming initiatives are well underway, and they occupy top roles at Disney, ViacomCBS and HBO Max as the businesses expand globally. In a sign of how important these initiatives are to Netflix, the streamer elevated Bela Bajaria, formerly head of local-language programming, to head of global TV in September as part of a broader corporate realignment.
“Audiences everywhere want to be seen, and they want to see themselves reflected on-screen,” Bajaria says. “Local stories and local shows definitely increased subscription in many countries.” Overseeing the world from her Culver City perch, Salke considers cultivating voices and content within each country as equally important to globally recognized tentpoles such as “Jack Ryan” and recent hit film “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” “Elevated, local originals have outsized impact in delighting customers and well as driving new subscribers for Prime,” she says.
“Lupin” has several elements that Luegenbiehl looks for in her current role as VP of global franchises: It is inspired by a well-known literary character — gentleman thief Arsène Lupin — that dates back to 1905. The first season of “Kingdom” debuted in January 2019; by December 2020, The New York Times had dubbed it one of the best international TV shows. Apocalyptic South Korean offering “Sweet Home” followed late last year. Having gained oversight of her additional territories under Bajaria’s October reorganization, Kim is in the process of relocating to Singapore, where she will oversee the broader region. Programming needs depend on the country and maturity of the market.
Malu Miranda, head of Brazil originals for Amazon Studios, was about to shoot her first scripted shows for the streamer when the pandemic shut down production. “That was really, really challenging,” says Miranda, noting that Amazon Prime was less than six months old in Brazil at that point. “We were able to go to a neighboring country that had really strict protocols in place [where] we were able to shoot a couple of our shows.
As Netflix manager of originals in Africa, Dorothy Ghettuba is determined to develop a wide range of fare from local perspectives. “Africa is the most diverse continent in the world, and it is easy to fall into the trap of looking at Africa as a monolith,” says Ghettuba, who debuted the region’s original offerings with the South African crime drama “Queen Sono” last year.
Erika North, who last year joined Amazon Studios as head of Asia-Pacific originals, breaks it down at a territorial level: “Our job is to try and help create the kind of content that cuts through the fray,” she says. “We strongly believe that to be successful globally, we need to be successful locally.”
So good... come on S2!!!
Wow 😳
And features some amazingly lazy plot development.
No...The writing was all over the place, but the idea was good. And the disguises were terrible.
So, when's Kingdom Season 3 coming?