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Netflix ramps up SEA rights; streamer heads into 2021 with new-look originals slate
08 December 2020
Netflix is poised for a turbo-charged Southeast Asia in 2021, including a slate of original films that kick off in early 2021 with romantic drama “Sobat Ambyar” (“The Heartbreak Club”), about a shy cafe owner who finds solace in the Javanese love songs of Indonesian musician Didi Kempot.
This will be followed by up-and-coming Indonesian director Hadrah Daeng Ratu’s feature with Starvision, which is midway through production in Bali, and a film from veteran Indonesian director Nia Dinata, which will begin shooting in the new year.
Myleeta Aga, Netflix’s director, content, for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, says the next crop of original films is being finalised. No details are available yet, but she highlights Thailand and Indonesia.
Out of Thailand, work has begun on “Bangkok Breaking”, a six-part original series expected to premiere on Netflix globally in 2021.
Aga says original projects for other Southeast Asian markets are in the works as well as part of a slate that is “more local, impactful... and serves our audience best-in-class stories that they cannot find anywhere else”.
Since 2016, Netflix has doubled its content catalogue from Southeast Asia very year, Aga says.
In 2020 alone, the platform added 500 titles from the region.
This includes about 130 titles from Thailand, up from the approx 100 Thai titles added in 2019; as well as about 100 titles from Singapore.
The biggest increase has been in Indonesia, where the 15 feature films added in 2019 soared to more than 100 this year.
"Across Southeast Asia we will continue to focus on finding stories that are truly locally authentic with universal themes that will resonate with members in their home markets, either as originals or through acquisitions," Aga says, adding: "We also want to give creators a platform to tell the stories they want to tell, and may not be able to do so in more traditional media settings".
Netflix is poised for a turbo-charged Southeast Asia in 2021, including a slate of original films that kick off in early 2021 with romantic drama “Sobat Ambyar” (“The Heartbreak Club”), about a shy cafe owner who finds solace in the Javanese love songs of Indonesian musician Didi Kempot.
This will be followed by up-and-coming Indonesian director Hadrah Daeng Ratu’s feature with Starvision, which is midway through production in Bali, and a film from veteran Indonesian director Nia Dinata, which will begin shooting in the new year.
Myleeta Aga, Netflix’s director, content, for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, says the next crop of original films is being finalised. No details are available yet, but she highlights Thailand and Indonesia.
Out of Thailand, work has begun on “Bangkok Breaking”, a six-part original series expected to premiere on Netflix globally in 2021.
Aga says original projects for other Southeast Asian markets are in the works as well as part of a slate that is “more local, impactful... and serves our audience best-in-class stories that they cannot find anywhere else”.
Since 2016, Netflix has doubled its content catalogue from Southeast Asia very year, Aga says.
In 2020 alone, the platform added 500 titles from the region.
This includes about 130 titles from Thailand, up from the approx 100 Thai titles added in 2019; as well as about 100 titles from Singapore.
The biggest increase has been in Indonesia, where the 15 feature films added in 2019 soared to more than 100 this year.
"Across Southeast Asia we will continue to focus on finding stories that are truly locally authentic with universal themes that will resonate with members in their home markets, either as originals or through acquisitions," Aga says, adding: "We also want to give creators a platform to tell the stories they want to tell, and may not be able to do so in more traditional media settings".
The streamer ends 2020 with its biggest-ever line-up of rights from Southeast Asia, including the exclusive direct-to-streaming release of Sammaria Simanjuntak’s theatrical feature “Guru Guru Gokil” (“Crazy Awesome Teachers”) from Base Entertainment in Indonesia; Chandra Liow’s “Whipped” from Indonesia’s Rapi Films, which went out as a Netflix original; as well as Netflix originals such as animated feature “Hayop Ka” from the Philippines; and Thai documentary “Hope Frozen”.
Netflix’s workshops across the region are also continuing, Aga says, adding that the platform has been on a “constant journey of doubling our local licensed content” for the past few years.
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