Netflix Invests $700 Million USD To Produce More Korean Content
Building on the success of titles like ‘Start-Up,’ ‘Itaewon Class’ and ‘Sweet Home.’
With the increasing popularity of K-dramas, Netflix has made a massive investment of ₩770 billion KRW (approximately $701 million USD) to produce more Korean content. The new plan marks a giant step for the industry with more than double times the growth since 2019, when the streaming platform invested ₩333.1 billion KRW (approximately $303 million USD).
The company established Netflix Entertainment Korea back in September to produce more original content in the country. Seeing immense growth to 3.62 million subscribers, the platform has created roughly 70 movies and series from Bong Joon Ho’s Okja in 2017, to Sweet Home just last month.
“We are consistently working with local creatives to introduce more K-content to the world,” a spokesperson shared. Many of the original titles have seen global success, including Itaewon Class, Crash Landing On You and Kingdom. As of now, these shows are streamed to 190 countries around the world.
The push, along with the ongoing pandemic, has led to a fall in the use of traditional platforms such as cinemas and local broadcasting channels. A significant number of viewers have even removed televisions from their homes to consume content on streaming platforms instead. Netflix has become one of the biggest names in the Korean entertainment world with 80 to 100 production pitches each week.
In case you missed it, see our list of the best K-dramas of 2020.
