Ted Sarandos to Hollywood: ‘Get More Global’

In a panel held at the prestigious Chapman University Dodge College of Film and Media Art, Greek-American Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos stated a simple strategy for his company’s future that he thinks more TV companies should follow: “Get more global.”

Earlier in the day, Sarandos had revealed his wish to bring Netflix to Cuba, after Obama recently loosened restrictions between the US and the Caribbean country.

Though most of Netflix subscribers are based in the US (39.1 million in the US vs. 18.3 million internationally), the revolutionary TV & film streaming service has been slowly but surely expanding.

Netflix debuted in 6 European countries last September, including France and Germany, and has announced an expansion to Australia and New Zealand next month, and just last week Sarandos spoke about providing Netflix in Japan by the fall of 2015.

Sarandos told the assembled crowd of future filmmakers, “Our goal by the end of 2016 is that we want to be a completely global product.”

The global move will affect Netflix in many ways, as Sarandos intends to add more foreign and local language original programming in other countries. Netflix has already started filming original productions in Mexico and France.

Also, Netflix will now think more internationally with all its purchases, and try not to fragment its buying activity so much, as other production companies do. Sarandos said, “I’m organizing my entire organization as global buyers now, instead of regional buyers.”

Sarandos has already done a tremendous amount of work to change the current state of the industry through his work at Netflix and was responsible for directing the company toward producing its own award-winning series, such as “Orange is the New Black” and “House of Cards.” His pioneering strategies continue to change the landscape of the entertainment industry and this latest move may see many other companies follow in Netflix’s footsteps, with their eyes toward a global audience.