Nearly 10 years ago, Australians invited Netflix into their homes for the first time. The global streaming platform commissioned its first local series, Mako Mermaids in 2014.
The official Australian launch took place in March 2015 when Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and his then head of content, Ted Sarandos, flew in for a day of publicity and an evening launch party.
Back then the questions asked in every interview with the visiting execs was: Will Netflix be making many Australian series?
Mediaweek reported Sarandos answered that question at the launch event: “We won’t be able to not make content in Australia. It is one of the great creative places in the world for television, for movies and for documentaries.”
These days Sarandos is co-CEO with Greg Peters who was visiting in what is a big week at Netflix for a numbers of reasons.
In addition to the new offices, Netflix today globally launches the major Australian drama Territory. The new series has been made for the platform by Easy Tiger and Ronde.
Dressing up the new Netflix Australian HQ. Top image: Minister Tony Burke, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peter and Netflix ANZ director of content Que Minh Luu
Netflix PR director Nathan Burman shared that the launch event was hosted by Peters who welcomed a room full of Australian creatives, policymakers, media and industry peers to the new hub that will serve as the home to Netflix’s dedicated local team.
Greg Peters on the ‘Netflix effect’
“It’s been an amazing journey to be able to work with incredible storytellers, some of which are represented in this room,” said Peters as part of his opening remarks. “We’ve created [shows and films] like Boy Swallows Universe, Heartbreak High, True Spirit, Love is in the Air and The Stranger. All of these have graced our Top 10 lists not only here in Australia and New Zealand, but around the world.
“The impact of these films and shows goes beyond our screens. Following the release of Boy Swallows Universe, the novel was again #1 in the Bookscan charts — some five years after publication — and fans started an online movement to reopen the infamous Boggo Road Gaol to visitors. That ‘Netflix Effect’ that we call it, this thing that happens when a great story meets a big audience on our service — it’s so important to us.
“We want amazing Australian storytellers to know that they can tell their incredible stories right here in Australia. They don’t need to go to Hollywood, they don’t need to go somewhere else, but they can tell hugely ambitious stories, authentic stories at significant scale right here, and we will help them find an amazing audience in Australia, in New Zealand, and around the world.”
Tony Burke, Minister for the Arts, was a guest at the opening. He told the crowd: “To have a permanent office in itself is really important. It sends a message to me, it sends a message to everybody who works here that this is a permanent home of creativity in Australia for one of the biggest platforms on the planet, and that’s something to celebrate.”
Netflix in Australia
In the past four years (2019-2023) Netflix has reported its investment to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Netflix has invested over $1 billion AUD on new Australian and Australian-related Netflix films and shows.
Between 2020 and 2023:
• Netflix productions have hired 6,000+ cast and crew in Australia
• Australian productions hired on average 600+ local vendors
• Netflix productions shot at 250+ locations (towns, cities and suburbs)
• As of October 2024, 15+ Australian titles have appeared in the Global Top 10 since the list launched in July 2021
Making the creative community stronger
“Along with our production partners and organisations like AFTRS, Bus Stop Films, and Screenworks, we’re investing in a range of training, scholarship, and attachment programs to help nurture local talent,” Peters continued. “Because we don’t just want Netflix to succeed here. We want to make the entire creative community stronger.”
Upcoming slate of Australian originals
The upcoming slate of homegrown Australian films and shows includes drama series Apple Cider Vinegar, an adaptation of Jane Harper’s mystery novel The Survivors, a standalone comedy series Son of a Donkey from Theo and Nathan Saidden and the final season of International Emmy Award-winning show Heartbreak High.
Peters concluded, “We know, like anyone who has worked here, that working in Australia and New Zealand, the talent, the facilities, the landscapes you have, they’re unparalleled, there’s no other place like it in the universe, and we want to continue that tradition and legacy going forward.”
See also:
• Netflix’s Ted Sarandos signals local commissions at Netflix launch in early 2015
• Territory preview screening for cast and crew of next big Netflix Australian original