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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1420529
on big things for HBO Max in Latin America, and expect to see more latinos on the screen in the year(s) ahead. While people can enjoy subtitled and dubbed content, the jokes are funnier, monsters are scarier and heroes/heroines are braver when they speak their lines in your language. There’s another advantage for streaming that organization executives became even more sensitive to as they began cranking out more and more films and TV shows for their “new, different” thirsty audiences. Production/post talent around the globe is universally excellent and a lot of times it’s less expensive/less restrictive to create video stories in other countries rather than Hollywood or Georgia or … In addition, with today’s advanced production technologies and tools like Sony’s crystal LED virtual production wall and Unreal’s real-time game engine, producers/directors can not only reduce a project’s budget but also improve overall efficiency and blow the doors off creative possibilities. Taking a page from Netflix’s and Amazon’s production script, studios are abandoning their old production/distribution model of shipping movies/shows to other countries. Instead, they’re investing billions to make culturally specific, local language content as well as sign long-term contracts for studios around the globe to increase the volume of film work they’re doing without minimizing quality. Streamers that want to/need to expand their audience reach realize that the majority of their prospective consumers are going to be outside the U.S. Last year’s worldwide streaming subscriptions topped 1.1B, up from fewer than 400M subscriptions in 2016, according to the MPA (Motion Picture Association). Global content demand has created more work for producers, video storytellers and indie film creatives everywhere as Hollywood-created content begins to play a smaller role in the worldwide entertainment industry. The rise in overseas production has created a dramatic increase in films/TV shows in languages including Hindi, French, Portuguese, German and Polish as streaming providers focus on acquiring subscribers … and keeping them. And as Netflix’ Hastings and Sandaros and Amazon’s team will tell you, one of their keys to success has been understanding – and listening to – their subscribers as well as what they want/don’t want. Netflix’s subscribers told them originals are “absolutely critical” to their decision to keep using the service (21 percent), while 41percent rank them “very important.” The two organizations use viewer/viewing data analysis to guide the greenlighting of creative projects and ensure they have the right mix of video stories … people like variety now and then. Both Netflix and Amazon have been paying increased attention in the Asian market such as when the Chinese public flocked to the cinema to see Hi Mom, Detective Chinatown 3, and Wolf Warrior 2. In addition, the data-driven firms saw global interest rise in K-drama and Japanese anime. Early this year, Netflix said it would spend $500 million on South Korean films and series in 2021. Shortly after that, the company premiered 40+ new original Japanese anime titles (2x over last year). The two genres have boosted their subscriptions in both countries as well as throughout Southeast Asia and increasingly, in the US and in Europe. Anime titles have consistently been on their top 10 most watched list in 100 countries this year, while Korean content viewing has quadrupled throughout Asia on their service. With mind-boggling growth in the area and around the globe Disney + has also rapidly ramped up its local content operations, emphasizing that anime and K-drama are bedrock foundations for area growth. O.K., we admit it, we felt really sorry for Disney’s Bob Chapek when Igor seemed to say, “Hey look, stuff is gonna happen next year so you take over as CEO, I’ll sit in the back seat and you drive.” Despite having to shut down the parks, dock the ships and close retail outlets around the globe, the company stepped on the gas for Disney+ and used its stable of A-list, family-friendly brands—Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Nat Geo, Lucasfilm, FX, Fox, History Channel, and more – to attract more than 100M subscribers worldwide in less than a year and a half. Of course, offering a chance to see Hamilton, Mandalorian, WandaVision, Soul, Captain Marvel, and some of the greats from their vault sure made it easy to sign up for their service.