The pioneer and giant of online streaming wants to tell the story of the “diversity” of the continent and choose initiatives aimed at amplifying African voices on the world stage.
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Netflix is investing in the African continent to bring out new talents and tell unique stories, which often appeal to a local audience before being exported around the world, explained its vice-president of content for Africa, Ben Amadasun. The pioneer and giant of online streaming wants to tell the “diversity” of the continent and choose initiatives aimed at amplifying African voices on the global stage. “Ensuring we are constantly bringing more relevant, well-crafted local stories” represented “a major opportunity”, said the manager, met this week on the sidelines of a Forbes summit for under-thirties in Botswana.
The platform wants to emphasize the development of skills, both in front of and behind the camera. Netflix offers “direct training and skills development on our productions, as well as scholarships and master classes so that young talents can develop their projects”.
“World-class creators”
Netflix is banking on the distribution of solid African productions “made for an African audience first, because when a title is appreciated somewhere, it has a better chance of traveling.” “A great story can come from anywhere” and authenticity, like narrative prowess, are key factors, he insists. Its teams closely monitor the different markets that Netflix serves “to find the best stories”, particularly in Nigeria and South Africa. “More people deserve to see themselves, their lives, their culture, language and country reflected on screen,” said the vice president, himself a Nigerian.
In recent years, Netflix has focused on diversifying its production outside the United States, enjoying huge successes with the Spanish series Casa de Papel and the South Korean series Squid Game. Blood & Water became the first South African series to reach number one in the United States. A story “local, very real and precise, which has a clear and well executed vision, the public will be interested”, he said, saying he was concerned to represent “a diversity of points of view and ideas”. Hollywood is no longer the only gateway to international recognition. Squid Game is the perfect example: “created by a Korean, telling a Korean story for a Korean audience, became the most watched of all time” on the platform.
African films and series are experiencing a golden age, with “world-class creators”, according to Ben Amadasun, who promises recent collaborations which will be revealed in the coming months.