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Tribune News Service

Is Netflix a universal language?
The entertainment giant is counting on it as the company seeks to extend its lead in the global streaming business.
This week, Netflix showcased its latest slate of international original programmes, a key part of its strategy to attract and retain subscribers around the world.
The list includes the much-anticipated sequel to the violent Korean-language drama Squid Game, Netflix’s most watched show ever; The Leopard, an Italian story about a prince in the 1860s; and the third season of the Japanese series Alice in Borderland.


Another ambitious project: the first TV adaptation of the classic novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.
The California-based streaming giant’s strategy is to create local-language shows and films that appeal to audiences in specific individual markets and regions.
If those programmes blow up in popularity, Netflix can use its platform to book them in other countries, including the United States, which is what happened with the first Squid Game season and the Spanish-language thriller Money Heist.
International markets are an important source of the company’s subscriber and revenue growth. Netflix estimates that two-thirds of its audience of 650 million people live outside the US.
“We’re working with local talent to make shows and films that people in specific countries will love,” said Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria at a presentation in Hollywood. “And we’re proving that great stories can come from anywhere and be loved by audiences everywhere.”
Audiences on Netflix have embraced international programming as viewers have become increasingly accustomed to reading subtitles at home. More than 70 per cent of programmes on Netflix have subtitles or dubbing, Bajaria said.
She added that some people assume that the main goal is to create global hits, but that is usually not the way at Netflix, which is to make shows and films that resonate in their home countries first.


The reason many of its shows work is that audiences appreciate the authenticity of local storytelling.
“When you try to make something that appeals to everyone, you just end up making something that appeals to no one,” Bajaria said.
The company has a significant presence abroad, with 26 offices outside the US, working with more than 1,000 producers from more than 50 countries. Korean, Japanese and Spanish stories draw the biggest US audiences for overseas content, Bajaria said.
The prime example of the strategy working is Squid Game, which captured 265.2 million views in its first 91 days on Netflix, according to company data. The series’ second season comes out on December 26.
Will viewership for the second season reach the heights of the original?
Minyoung Kim, Netflix’s vice-president of content for Asia-Pacific, was reluctant to speculate, but noted that Netflix’s number of subscribers has grown since Squid Game came out in 2021 and that the next season is packed with drama.
“I have a lot of confidence that our members who watched season one will definitely love season two and those who actually have not been introduced will find season two will also resonate with them as well,” Kim said in an interview.


Netflix executives say their commitment to telling authentic local stories has helped them gain the trust of creators. In December, Netflix will release part one of One Hundred Years of Solitude, based on the sprawling magical realism novel by Gabriel García Márquez about the rise and fall of a fictional town in Colombia.
Francisco Ramos, vice-president of Latin American content, said in a presentation video that previously no one had ever tried to adapt the book into a series or film, nor had the García Márquez family approved any adaptations.
“But we were able to, thanks to our commitment with the family to film in Colombia, in a series format to honour the original structure of the book, and in Spanish for authenticity,” Ramos said.


Made in Sabah: Malaysia’s indigenous language film Sinakagon to make Netflix debut

All of Us Are Dead creator on South Korea’s webtoon boom and his Netflix success

In K-drama casting news, Lee Jung-jae and Lim Ji-yeon eyed to lead Petty Love, and more

Streaming service Max serves up Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking for Asia debut

TV shows and streaming video

Netflix hopes these new non-English series will blow up globally

Squid Game is Netflix’s most successful non-English series. The streaming giant is doubling down on local-language programming. Photo: Netflix

Squid Game creator on season 2 and wanting to ask whether there’s hope for humans

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk at a screening for season two in Los Angeles in November. He talks about exploring whether humanity can prevail in an increasingly polarised world, and coming back with a show that’s bigger and better. Photo: AP

Hwang (left) and Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae arrive at a screening for Squid Game season two in Los Angeles, in November 2024. Photo: AP

Lee’s character Seong is transformed in season two, from a naive participant in the deadly games to a man bent on exacting revenge on those behind them. Photo: AP

Two people dressed like Squid Game characters stand at a special event for season two in Los Angeles. Photo: Reuters

How Disney+’s Interior Chinatown with Jimmy O. Yang mocks Asian stereotypes in Hollywood

Jimmy O. Yang (left) and Ronny Chieng arrive for the premiere of Interior Chinatown in Los Angeles. Yang stars as an Asian actor who finds his world turned upside down in unusual ways. Photo: AFP

(From left) Actress Chloe Bennet, actor Jimmy O. Yang, show creator Charles Yu, actor Ronny Chieng and director Taika Waititi at the premiere of Interior Chinatown in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP

Bennet, born Chloe Wang to a Chinese father and white American mother, had to change her last name to land roles in Hollywood. Photo: AFP

Yu’, whose 2020 bestseller delivers a humorous takedown of racism in US society through the adventures of Willis Wu. Photo: AFP

Netflix K-drama Mr. Plankton review: Woo Do-hwan, Lee Yoo-mi in disjointed road trip drama

Lee You-mi (left) as Jae-mi and Woo Do-hwan as Hae-jo in a still from Mr. Plankton. Photo: Netflix

Lee You-mi (left) as Jae-mi and Woo Do-hwan as Hae-jo in a still from Mr. Plankton, a confusing Netflix K-drama that lacks chemistry between the leads. Photo: Netflix

Woo Do-hwan as lead male character Hae-jo in a still from Mr. Plankton. Photo: Netflix

Lee Yoo-mi (left) as main female character Jae-mi and Kim Hae-sook as Ho-ja in a still from Mr. Plankton. Photo: Netflix

Oh Jung-se (left) as Eo-heung and Lee Yoo-mi as his intended bride Jae-mi in a still from Mr. Plankton. Photo: Netflix

4 Hong Kong romance films from the 2000s that are out of the ordinary

18. Love in a Puff

Jacky Cheung and Karena Lam in a still from July Rhapsody (2002), one of several mould-breaking Hong Kong romantic dramas shot around that time. Photo: SCMP

Jacky Cheung and Anita Mui in a still from July Rhapsody. Photo: SCMP

Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue in a still from Love in a Puff (2010). Photo: Media Asia Distribution

Film director Pang Ho-cheung at an interview with the Post in 2010. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from Perhaps Love (2005). Photo: SCMP

Sammi Cheng (left) and Andy Lau in a still from Love on a Diet (2001). Photo: Chinastar

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

This week Netflix showcased The Leopard, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and new seasons of Squid Game and Alice in Borderland


This week Netflix showcased The Leopard, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and new seasons of Squid Game and Alice in Borderland.
