Netflix will produce its first Chinese-language drama to attract 50 million non-US users

If you look back at user growth from 2016 to 2017, you will find that the growth rate of international users is significantly higher than that of the United States. It is inevitable that Netflix has begun to take many actions in non-American markets.

Recently, Netflix announced that it will produce its first Chinese-language drama "The Ferry". The director is Ke Wenli, who was shortlisted in the top 10 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 2014 for his short film "The Free Man", and the production team approached IFA Media, which co-produced the first Chinese-language drama "The Psychic Girl" with HBO Asia last year.

In fact, not long ago, Netflix had just bought the plant theater series that had recently performed well in the Taiwan drama market.

Netflix and HBO Asia have launched their first Chinese-language series one after another. What does it mean?

In July this year, Netflix announced its second-quarter earnings report. Data showed that the number of Netflix users increased significantly by 5.2 million this quarter, totaling more than 104 million. The number of international users in non-US regions also reached 52.03 million, surpassing the number of users in the United States for the first time. 51.92 million. After this earnings report was announced, Netflix's share price naturally increased by 9%.

If you look back at user growth from 2016 to 2017, you will find that the growth rate of international users is significantly higher than that of the United States. It is inevitable that Netflix has begun to take many actions in non-American markets.

In order to get closer to users in non-U.S. areas, there are usually several practices, such as buying the copyright of locally produced content and airing it on the shelves. For example, we recently purchased eight miniseries produced by Taiwan Plant Theater and started airing it on August 1. In response, Larry Tanz, vice president of content procurement at Netflix, said: "Netflix's mission is to gather good stories from around the world."

This time, in addition to gathering high-quality dramas, they also plan to produce them themselves.

In fact, this time Netflix found IFA Media. In April this year, after its release in Taiwan, HBO Asia's first Chinese-language drama "Psychic Girl", which caused a lot of talk, was produced behind the scenes by IFA Media.

"Psychic Girl" is a minis-series with a total of six episodes. The story tells Taiwanese local folk fantasy stories in a popular way. After its release, it has achieved great success and achieved a high rating situation that is quite rare in the Taiwanese drama market in recent years. This also shows that the cooperation model between IFA Media and HBO Asia seems to be able to successfully enter the local market.

However, compared to HBO Asia, which has been actively deploying the Asian market in 2012, starting with original content production in Southeast Asia and then starting with Taiwan to attack the East Asian market, Netflix's pace is obviously much slower.

In 2015, Netflix started in Japan and produced many original series, such as "Late Night Canteen: Tokyo Story".

Obviously, Netflix also hopes to further expand users in Asia other than Japan by producing the Chinese drama "The Ferry Body".

Netflix's first Chinese-language drama will discuss the issue of capital punishment,

"The Ferry", director Ko Wenli, is Malaysian. He came to Taiwan to study communication while in college and studied film graduate school at Taipei University of the Arts. His graduation work "The Free Man" won him four awards at the Taiwan Golden Bell Awards that year and was shortlisted in the top 10 for Best Live Action Short Film Oscar.

The story of "The Ferry Body" is based on real social cases. It tells the story of the days when A Quan, a condemned prisoner, was waiting for death in prison and accidentally entered a mysterious alien space one day. In order to protect his family and save his son, Ah Quan plans to escape from his cage, but finds himself caught in a more dangerous plot. The drama is currently expected to be presented in the form of an eight-episode miniseries.

In fact, Cowenley's "The Free Man" is also adapted from a real death row case. That was a murder case committed by a young man named Tang Ying-shin in 1986. The phrase "Taiwan's youngest condemned prisoner" in the news media attracted Ke Wenli's attention. He began to understand more about Tang Ying-shin's background as a foreigner who went to the city to relieve his economic difficulties, and how he was ultimately treated inhumanely and committed the murder. Cowenley's pursuit of this case started the creation of "The Free Man."

Why did Netflix's first Chinese-language drama look for Cowley and tell the story of a condemned prisoner? Producer Frank Smith said,"Taiwan's film and television industry has always had a lot of creative potential. We see all kinds of talents in director Covenley. He is a cutting-edge director who is good at quoting local Asian culture and integrating it with the international community."

As for the more detailed production details and release schedule of "The Ferry", the reporter asked about Netflix's window in Taiwan. They said that since the film is still in the early stages and has not yet been officially filmed, the casting selection and release schedule are still under planning.

Editor: Xiongwei