As Disney+ continues to grow globally, one of the key aspects of this expansion is the increase in local content, which can be released around the world.  We’ve seen international originals like “Wedding Season”, “Snowdrop” and “Oussekine”, coming from the UK, France, Korea and many other countries.

And now, Canada is the next country to start revving up production.  Recently, VP & GM of Disney+ Canada, Jason Badal, spoke with Variety about its plans for creating all-new original content for the streaming service and unlike what many people think, he isn’t looking for child-friendly content.

“That’s where all of our audience-expanding content is.  I love to hear that people with older kids or younger kids love our product, but I’m always trying to, even on a one-to-one basis, remind people that there’s older-skewing general entertainment content.”

With Disney+ internationally featuring the sixth brand, Star, which is the general hub featuring content from 20th Century Studios, FX and ABC, Disney+ has a huge collection of content for adults.   Jason Badal, said he is looking for more shows like “Fleabag” than traditional Disney shows.

“That’s exactly why I’d want it, because there’s a perception of what we are and then there’s the reality if you’re [looking at our content], We do have a lot of adult-skewing interesting content and we really need folks to realize that. A show like “Fleabag” is broadly applicable and addresses demographics that may not be associated with Disney+ but that are really important for us.”

While no Canadian Disney+ Originals have yet been announced, they are getting pitches for new content and  Disney’s director of content, Stephanie Azam, explained

“We want to be able to communicate in a simple and efficient way. Very soon we’ll be able to communicate very specifically — although Jason has done a great job — the kind of content we want pitched.”

One of the reasons Disney is ramping up its Canadian content, is that the government is currently looking to impose new restrictions to increase the amount of Canadian-made content that needs to be available on a streaming service.  Similar to what’s been happening across Europe.

The good news for Disney is they have already been making content in Canada for years and have a number of originals like “Turning Red”, which is a Canadian story.  Disney has already invested over $3 billion into the Canadian film industry in the past few years.

What type of content would you like to see made in Canada for Disney+?

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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