President Yoon Meets U.S. State Guest, Promises Investment
On the 24th (local time), Netflix announced a bold plan to invest more than $2.5 billion (approximately 3.3 trillion KRW) in Korean content over the next four years. This amount is double the investment made since its entry into Korea in 2016.
During his state visit to the United States, President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, as his first official schedule. At this meeting, CEO Sarandos revealed the investment plan.
Netflix invested over 1 trillion KRW in Korean content from 2016 to 2021. It has introduced more than 130 Netflix-branded Korean content titles across various genres including movies, dramas, animation, stand-up comedy, and entertainment shows. Netflix explained that this additional investment announcement demonstrates infinite trust in the Korean creative ecosystem as a partner growing together with Korea.
Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, stated, "This amount is double the investment Netflix has made for the domestic creative ecosystem since entering Korea in 2016. Netflix has collaborated with the domestic ecosystem to produce globally acclaimed works such as ‘Squid Game,’ ‘The Glory,’ and ‘Physical: 100,’ and will continue to work with Korean creators to bring the joy of entertainment to fans worldwide."
Netflix has created synergy through collaboration with Korean creators. ‘Squid Game,’ which recorded the highest viewership in Netflix history, was released simultaneously worldwide on September 17, 2021, and ranked number one on Netflix’s ‘Top 10 Today’ in 94 countries. Within four weeks of its release, approximately 142 million households worldwide watched it. In 2022, it became the first non-English content to win six awards at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor. In its recent first-quarter earnings report, Netflix announced that the Korean series ‘The Glory’ ranked fifth among the most-watched non-English TV content of all time. Among the top 10 non-English TV content titles, four are Korean: first place ‘Squid Game,’ fourth place ‘All of Us Are Dead,’ fifth place ‘The Glory,’ and seventh place ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo.’
Netflix plans to create a ‘virtuous cycle’ structure that grows together with Korean companies across the entire content production process, including special effects (VFX), special makeup effects (SFX), post-production, production finance, and on-site support. The dubbing and subtitling specialist media group ‘IYUNO SDI Group’ partnered with Netflix in 2015 supporting about 10 languages, but by 2021 it had grown into a global company with infrastructure capable of dubbing in about 60 languages. The special makeup effects company ‘Cell’ has built a global portfolio recognized overseas for the success of Korean content. Dexter’s sound-related subsidiary ‘Livetone’ reported that the volume of content for entertainment streaming services more than doubled in 2021 compared to the previous year. Additionally, the VFX specialist company ‘Westworld’ grew from only 10 employees at its founding in 2018 to 170 employees by 2021. The color grading (DI) division within ‘Dexter Studio’ also continued to grow, handling about 40% of annual domestic film DI work as of 2021.
By continuously investing in and cooperating with the Korean content and media ecosystem, Netflix is leading the new Korean Wave. In the past, Korean content popular overseas was mostly limited to romantic comedy dramas. Recently, Korean content with diverse genres and narratives has been gaining attention alongside Hollywood works, from the socially impactful drama ‘The Glory’ to the survival show ‘Physical: 100,’ which opened a new horizon for Korean entertainment, and the film ‘Gilboksoon,’ which tells the story of a female killer and single mother.
Leading the Korean content team, Netflix has assembled a domestic workforce that best understands Korean sensibilities and can create maximum synergy with domestic creators. To present a single piece of content, Netflix collaborates closely with the Korean creative ecosystem throughout the entire production process?from planning, filming, editing, and dubbing to post-production, promotion, and marketing. This synergy is presenting a new paradigm in global popular culture.
Netflix stated that the power of Korean content lies in its emotional expression of universal sentiments shared worldwide through uniquely Korean themes. Under the philosophy that ‘good stories can be loved anytime, anywhere,’ Netflix focuses on realizing the themes and stories that the domestic creative ecosystem wants to present on screen.
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