Netflix has announced that it will open an office in Poland, where it plans to work more closely with local creators and producers on new content. The new site in Warsaw will also function as a hub for the Central and Eastern Europe region, says the streaming giant.
“Poland has become a key market for us,” said Larry Tanz, Netflix’s head of original series in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, quoted by Broadband TV News. “Given the growing number of Polish productions, the time has come to get even closer to the local creative and film industry.”
The company revealed that it invested 490 million zloty (€105 million) in Poland alone in 2020 and 2021. This was spent on the production of films and series in the country as well as the development of a local library. Netflix says that it created more than 2,600 jobs on these productions.
The latest production made in Poland to air on the platform is Cracow Monsters, a supernatural thriller based on Polish mythology. In May last year, Polish comedy Sexify was the most-watched show on Netflix worldwide.
Other Polish series and films include The Woods, Rojst ’97, How I Fell in Love with a Gangster and Operation Hyacinth, as well as the animated series Kajko and Kokosz. Worldwide Netflix hit The Witcher is based on the series of novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.
Netflix’s investment shows that Poland “is one of the most developing audiovisual production markets in Europe” and “treated as a serious, long-term partner”, said Alicja Grawon-Jaksik, President of the Polish Producers Alliance (KIPA).
Poland will be the location for more projects, which means more jobs, funds, and opportunities, she added, quoted by Wirtualne Media. “This stimulates the economy and the development of the sector as such”, which “strengthens the position of the domestic audiovisual sector in our region of Europe”.
Piotr Müller, the government’s spokesman, hailed the plan to open the Warsaw office as “a good decision that confirms the lasting interest in our region from American investors. It means more jobs in the audiovisual sector and possibilities of development for Polish talents”.
In 2019, the government criticised Netflix for including in one of its documentaries a map that falsely suggested Poland was responsible for the Nazi German camps on its occupied territory during World War Two. Netflix agreed to remove the image, earning thanks from the Polish prime minister.
Further details have not yet been released about when the Netflix office will open and how many people it will employ. But it will be “a natural step in our development that will greatly facilitate building long-term cooperation in the region and strengthen existing relationships, creating wide opportunities for creators and producers”, Tanz said.
Netflix first appeared in Poland in 2016 and has consolidated its position as the country’s most popular VOD platform. In February, 14.35 million Polish consumers visited Netflix, spending an average of 5 hours 39 minutes streaming, according to a Mediapanel survey for Wirtualne Media.
Netflix began working with KIPA two years ago, and in spring 2020 spent 2.5 million zloty on a support fund for television and film workers affected by the coronavirus lockdown.
Main image credit: Netflix
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
