While coronavirus has brought Hollywood to a halt, Netflix has enjoyed record success. But will the streaming giant’s well-stocked slate of future shows be enough to maintain that growth?
Netflix announced this week that it has finished filming the majority of movies and series due for release this year, playing down concerns that its flow of hit shows such as Tiger King could run dry, or the next Unorthodox be delayed.
"Our 2020 slate of series and films are largely shot and are in post-production remotely in locations all over the world. And we›re actually pretty deep into our 2021 slate. So we're not anticipating moving things around," said content chief Ted Sarandos.
Analysts say Netflix’s scale, in terms of its sheer number of ongoing productions and global presence, make it best-placed to weather the pandemic storm.
“Any other studio… might have four or five films in the can, or in post-production that they can still work on. But Netflix has possibly hundreds,” said Jeff Bock, senior analyst at Exhibitor Relations.
“There are so many productions that are financed by Netflix, it’s almost mind-boggling. They’re almost putting out as much content as all the studios put together.”
The deep-pocketed platform can also turn to its vast network of overseas partners to license content — often subtitled — for domestic audiences.
But even Netflix’s content pipeline has inevitable limits if an unprecedented shutdown nobody could have predicted extends much longer.
“They like to put out a lot of content, each and every week,” said Bock. “Maybe as we go along into the fourth or fifth month in terms of lockdowns… they certainly will be ahead of the game, but they’ll certainly be hurt.”
New, original programming plays a bigger part in Netflix’s appeal than rival platforms like Disney+ — home to the Mouse House’s enviable 80-year back catalog.