Disney Executive Reveals Why International Originals Are Important For Disney+
One of the major selling points of many of the biggest streaming services is their selection of international originals. These provide subscribers with something different from the typical Hollywood fare and offer local audiences something unique.
Over the past few years, Disney has been slowly building up its international original lineup to compete with Amazon and Netflix, as local original programming has been proven to be a big selling point to potential new subscribers.
We’ve seen Disney heavily invest in new original programming in many regions, including Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. From the UK Disney has released hit shows like “Rivals”, “Culprits”, Extraordinary” and the recent drama series, “A Thousand Blows”, while in Australia we’ve seen “The Artful Dodger” go on to be popular.
During a recent question and answer session at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, Disney Entertainment’s Co-Chairman, Dana Walden, was asked about the investment in local content internationally for Disney+, to which she explained:
Absolutely. We have now had, some of the slates are very young. They launched probably 2 years ago. And creating a pipeline of content takes some time, but the great news is in each of the regions we’ve found bonafide hits. For example, in Korea last year we released a show called Moving ,that signed up over a 1.5 million subscribers and created a huge event in that market along with all of the rest of the content from the United States. So it’s just local flavor. We’re doing local for local, and then local for regional, and then global for the whole world.
Making international content has many benefits, especially when these shows become popular on a global stage. But there is no doubt, that much like with its Hollywood output, it has been drastically reducing how much content it creates. With Disney now becoming much more focused on creating original content in countries where they deem it worthwhile, such as in Japan, Korea, Australia and the UK.
There are also other reasons why Disney is continuing to invest in local content for Disney+, since in many countries, especially in Europe, streaming services are required by the regional governments to either create local content or pay a percentage of their income to a central fund for the creation of local content. This is done to help protect local filming industries, which are deemed under threat if the global streaming services get too much control.
Local originals can also be used as a major marketing campaign to attract new subscribers. Here in the UK, Disney has promoted some of its British originals, like “Rivals,” “Culprits,” and “A Thousand Blows,” with national advertising campaigns. These international shows reach an audience that might not be as interested in American-made shows, which is the main focus of the streaming service.
Roger’s Take: International originals are a cornerstone of every streaming service, and Disney+ has had some great shows that I don’t think we’d have seen from Disney’s typical studios. Having more choice is never a bad thing. I don’t think local governments will be changing their view that they need to force the global streaming services to keep their film industry in play, as let’s be honest, if these rules weren’t in play, Disney, along with other studios, would likely drastically reduce how much international content they make.
Have you checked out any of the international originals on Disney+? Let me know on social media!
