Written by Shona Smith on Jan 8, 2021. Posted in General Interest

Netflix lease studios in South Korea

Netflix have established two production facilities in South Korea to feed the demand for Hallyu series and films on the streaming service. The Korean adaptation of La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) will be one of the first productions based at the new studios.

Both facilities are just outside Seoul, in the Gyeonggi Province and together total 16,000 square meters of production space. The six stages and supporting spaces leased at YCDSMC – Studio 139 total approximately 9,000 square meters. A further 7,000 square meters over three stages are at Samsung Studios.

From 2015 – 2020 Netflix have invested USD700 million in Korean content with more than 80 Korean made shows available to audiences across the globe. The streamer has established content and distribution deals with some of the biggest players in the South Korean entertainment market.

A three-year content partnership with CJ ENM/Studio Dragon was signed in 2019. The deal will see Studio Dragon produce original series for the streamer and Netflix receives distribution rights to other select Studio Dragon titles. This follows a similar distribution agreement with JTBC in 2017, which has expanded to co-development in 2020. CJ ENM/Studio Dragon are behind hits such as Stranger, Mr. Sunshine and Memories of Alhambra.

“Netflix is thrilled to deepen its investment in Korea, as well as Korean Films and Series,” said Netflix VP Studio Operations Amy Reinhard. “With these new studios, Netflix is better positioned than ever to increase our production of great stories from Korea while also providing a wealth of production-related jobs for talented professionals in Korea’s creative community.”

Netflix Korean Original Series Sweet Home, as well as Korean shows such as Kingdom Season 2, The King: Eternal Monarch, Start-Up and Its Okay not to Be Okay were some of the most popular TV series in Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and other growing markets for Netflix.

There are new stories in production and development including Move To Heaven, Kingdom: Ashin of the North, Silent Sea, Squid Game, Hellbound, All of Us are Dead, D.P, and more.

The Korean Film Council(KOFIC) operates the location incentive, which offers up to 30% cash rebate on the production expenditures of foreign audio-visual works incurred for goods and services in South Korea. Feature films, television series and documentaries spending more than 50 million KRW (approx. 50K USD) are eligible to apply.

Image credit: Netflix