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NEWS ANALYSIS

The stories behind the news.

Netflix commits to ANZ, launches Territory globally

By Natalie Apostolou 30-10-2024

C21 catches up with the producers and execs behind upcoming Netflix drama Territory and hears about the streamer’s strategy for Australia and New Zealand.

Netflix will be hoping Territory follows in the success of Boy Swallows Universe

Australian writers and producers are linchpins to “the Netflix effect,” according to Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters, speaking in Sydney last week at the opening of the US-based streamer’s local office.

Reflecting on Netflix’s tenth year operating in Australia and New Zealand, Peters said: “It’s been an amazing journey to be able to work with incredible storytellers. We’ve created shows 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.”

He noted that following the release of Brouhaha Entertainment’s Boy Swallows Universe, adapted from the book by Trent Dalton, the novel re-surged to the top of the charts, five years after initial acclaim and publication. “The impact of these films and shows goes beyond our screens. That ‘Netflix Effect’ – as we call it – this thing that happens when a great story meets a big audience on our service, it’s so important to us,” Peters said.

Last week was a significant one for Netflix in Australia. On Thursday it globally launched its most expensive commissioned series to-date, a modern Succession-styled outback drama, Territory. The coproduction from Ronde Media and Easy Tiger was filmed in outback locations in the Northern Territory and South Australia.

The launch yielded 6.4 million views making it the third most watched show in the global Top 10 English TV list and number one in Australia’s Top 10.

Peters said Netflix’s message to Australian creatives was 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.”

Speaking at the series launch in Sydney, Territory producer and CEO at Easy Tiger Rob Gibson said: “This show is hugely ambitious, right from its inception, and thankfully Netflix saw and backed that vision, and it just got bigger. It’s impossible to conceive that this show could have been made without that backing and in a pretty bold way and trusted us.”

Ronde CEO and Territory co-creator Ben Davies, who originally conceived the drama epic after producing reality shows including Outback Ringer in the Northern Territory, added that the intent behind the series was to make a show with global impact from its inception. He recalled telling the team and crew at the start of filming, “outwardly and explicitly, that we’re here to make a global hit.”

“One of the reasons I want to mention that is because everybody aspires to make global hits, but in Australia in particular, we’re terrified of saying it, for the fear that we might prove ourselves wrong later,” he revealed.

From left to right, Territory director Greg McLean, coproducers Ben Davies and Rob Gibson

Davies added that the special alchemy he witnessed on the production was that when the entire team is aligned in its vision, the production dynamic shifts gear, “it wasn’t about just doing the best job you could possibly do in your department or in your own way. There was a shared objective and goal.

“When Netflix commission a series from you, they’re effectively saying, ‘you know what, not too far from now, we’re going to press the button, and when we press that button, this thing’s going to go live to some 280 million on the platform, and when they’re giving you that opportunity, it’s not a time to equivocate what your goals and ambitions are. It really shows the way that everybody on this production made a commitment to embrace that potential and that opportunity.”

Speaking to C21, Netflix ANZ’s director of content Que Minh Luu said investing in programming like Territory is addressing the tastes of Australian audiences first, with the hope that the content will also resonate globally.

“We are trying to service so many different kinds of tastes, types and flavours. Territory is one of many. But you can see from where we began, from Heartbreak High to Boys Swallows Universe and we have Apple Cider Vinegar [from See-Saw Films and Picking Scabs] and Son of a Donkey [from Princess Pictures] launching next year, it gives you a sense of the range we’re reaching for.”

While Netflix’s original Australian entry into ANZ attracted heat over how much it would be commissioning locally, Minh Luu contends that the streamer did move fast once the team and development objectives were right. “We moved pretty quickly, but I would say that.

“I think the turning point was really Boy Swallows Universe, not only in that the show went out and reached as many people as it did, but particularly for the sector, they saw where we were going. Because we’re trying to build with the audience as well as with sector and we’re new in the market,” she added.

“We’re a new commissioner. We’re trying to define what Australian content means for us on the Netflix service, and to an Australian audience first, and then, out to the world. Once we had those parameters, those goalposts, people began to understand that we were serious. It takes time to build trust. But once that happens, we really sensed a surge in excitement from both audience and creators,” she added.

Arts minister Tony Burke, Greg Peters and Que Minh Luu

While IP from Australian writers is a golden commodity right now, Minh Luu said she believes “good stories come from anywhere, so we will look at anything from books, original ideas or look at different formats. We’ll look at anything and everything to find the next hit for us.”

Netflix famously refrains from dropping numbers on local productions or investment, with Minh Luu affirming that commissioning is quality based. “There’s no number. We don’t really think about the numbers so much as we think about the quality and the people who are entertained and feeling joy from what we make.

“Sometimes you can complicate a strategy. When it comes down to it, what makes Netflix so great is that there is a lot of care and ambition and creative expression that goes into making a great show, and we stay laser-focused on making each show as great as it can be. That’s the pathway to getting on top of our game.”

Discussing what the commissioner defines as Australian creativity on-screen and what she is attracted to, she said it was the “unflappability of how we approach things.”

She explained: “Its present in both how we approach creativity and how we execute it as well. As much as filmmaking is a creative pursuit, there’s also a huge amount of complex execution that happens throughout and that sort of ‘can do’ approach that we bring to it is vital. When I look at our Australian team, we are small but mighty.”

In terms of attracting international productions or coproductions into Australia and NZ, Minh Luu said that “everything is project dependent.”

“It’s about what the title and the production needs to be the best possible version of itself. Certainly there’s so much talent and filmmakers and studios that want to bring productions to Australia, because of how great our crews are, as well as New Zealand, because the infrastructure and talent is incredible there as well. I think there’s also just culturally, a real ‘can do’ attitude that comes with being either a Kiwi or an Australian ready to muck in and make a show.”

She added that both markets have witnessed impressive local talent get lured overseas and wanted to stem that exodus. “That can come in many forms, but we would want to create  more work that we can sustain for our local talent.”


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