Netflix opening CEE hub
March 29, 2022
Netflix has revealed plans for a new Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) hub in Warsaw, Poland – and has laid out its production plans for the region.
Larry Tanz, Vice President Series, EMEA at Netflix, said in a blog post: “It’s been seven years since we started the Netflix journey in Central and Eastern Europe – a region with deep creative traditions and brilliant creative talent. In 2016 we localized our service in Poland. Soon after that Netflix became available in Romanian, Czech, Hungarian, Croatian and Ukrainian.”
“Throughout this time, and because we know how much our members in the region love local titles, we have worked with the creative community across CEE to grow our local film and series slate. In Poland alone, we have invested over PLN490 million PLN [€104m] in original Netflix films and series and have created over 2,600 jobs on our productions, giving opportunities to actors, scriptwriters, directors and all of the below-the-line crews who are the backbone of every production. In parallel, we have consistently invested in licensing many hugely popular local titles in Czechia, Romania, Hungary and others. CEE has also become a strategic production hub for our international shows, with major titles like Extraction 2 or Shadow & Bone S01 successfully shot in the region recently.”
“We have worked closely with celebrated Polish creators to bring a variety of Polish films and series to Netflix members in Poland and around the world. Series like The Woods, Sexify, Rojst ‘97 and films such as David and the Elves, Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight, How I Fell in Love with a Gangster and the critically-acclaimed Operation Hyacinth have connected with audiences across the region and regularly appeared in Netflix’s Top 10.”
“Today marks another milestone in our journey in Central and Eastern Europe, bringing us even closer to our members and creative partners. I’m thrilled to announce that we plan to open a Netflix CEE office in Warsaw later this year that will function as a hub for the region. The Netflix office in Warsaw is a natural next step for us and will help build long-term cooperation in the region as well as deepen existing ties, creating new opportunities for content creators and producers. The creativity and potential of the local industry make Warsaw a great place to base our business across Central and Eastern Europe.”
“Thank you to all of our members, amazing filmmakers and partners in the region for the last seven years of support and collaboration. We can’t wait to write the next chapter for Netflix in Central and Eastern Europe together,” concluded Tanz.
In response to the news, Alicja Grawon-Jaksik, president of the Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce (KIPA), commented: “The opening of a permanent office in Warsaw of one of the world OTT leaders means that Poland is one of the most developing audiovisual production markets in Europe. She is treated as a serious, long-term partner. It will be the location for a greater number of ongoing projects. And new projects mean jobs, greater transfer of funds, new creative opportunities. We are glad that the Polish market, Polish producers, have more and more partners financing production from foreign markets – this stimulates the economy and the development of the sector as such. It is an important signal for all of us, strengthening the position of the domestic audiovisual sector in our region of Europe”.
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