Netflix spends R4bn on film and TV productions in SA from 2021

While a number of video on demand companies are pulling back on their spending and business activities, Netflix says it has spent R4bn on film and television in SA over the last four years, implying an investment of R1bn a year.

This, the company says, is a sign of its belief in SA and the broader African continent as an area of growth. 

“Between 2021 and 2024, we invested over R4bn in local productions. That comes from an overall thesis, which is [about] bringing great stories to members, which they value, subscribe to Netflix and tell their friends,” Larry Tanz, senior vice-president of content for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Netflix told Business Day.

“The evolution of Netflix really started as a way to bring Hollywood films and series to people in a new method of distribution, and we proved a business model around that, and that is at the stage [now] to then go deeper with our members in an area that we know they love, which is local films in series.

“And in the context of our competition, that’s the main difference. We are focused on one thing, bringing great entertainment to our members and our case film in series, and that’s all we’re doing.”

Netflix has been devoting its deep pockets to its own local productions such as Blood & Water, Love Never Lies, Queen Sono, One Piece and How To Ruin Christmas. 

The strategy appears to be paying off with titles such as Blood & Water, Unseen and Fatal Seduction, all having broken through Netflix’s Global Top 10 chart. 

The company says One Piece continues to be its biggest production in Africa to date, in terms of scale and budget covering SA labour, infrastructure and suppliers. 

While the company is spending a large amount of money, R1bn on average each year in SA, this is a drop in the bucket for the US streaming giant, which has a $17bn (about R302bn) production budget for 2024.

In November, MultiChoice said its local content library grew by 8% to 86,215 hours, despite a 10% reduction in local content production hours, representing 50.3% of total general entertainment content spend for the six months to end-September.

The DStv and Showmax operator spent R9.8bn on content in the period. 

Netflix has chosen to produce its film and television content in the region through a network of local production companies and partners. 

“We have a range of partners and production companies, which has been great,” said Ben Amadasun, Netflix’s vice-president of content for Middle East and Africa. 

For example “we work with Burnt Onion Productions, the Ramaphakela siblings, Ochre Media, Gambit Films, Stained Glass. There’s a real diverse production company base that has provided us with some really great stories for our members here. And we think that’s going to continue.”

Ochre Media is operated by Business Day’s parent company, Arena Holdings. 

“We’ve been doing a lot more non-fiction recently. Working with a few partners like Urban Brew Studios and Red Pepper Pictures,” he said. 

“Using One Piece as an example, the first season was over $47m that was actually invested in that, but what it meant for the community was a thousand jobs were created, not to mention the amount of companies, production services, all the set design, location, they benefited from us investing into that production. The second season is being filmed at Cape Town Film Studios.”

gavazam@businesslive.co.za