Netflix pledges $400m to Canadian TV and film
September 29, 2017
Netflix has revealed it will spend $400 million (€338.4m) over five years on Canadian TV and film content. It will establish a permanent production presence in Canada, the first time it has done so outside of the US.
The company has largely avoided the requirements put on Canadian content producers by the country’s government. The country doesn’t, currently, tax digital players like Netflix. This has raised concerns over the loss of Canadian content, worries over how to compete with streaming services and calls for streaming taxes – with the proceeds going to fund Canadian programming.
Netflix has worked with Canadian content creators; with the CBC it developed the Anne of Green Gables series, with a second a second season in the works. It also co-produced a miniseries based on the Margaret Atwood novel ‘Alias Grace.’
Canada’s Heritage Minister, Melanie Joly, said the deal “signals a meaningful partnership in supporting Canadian creators, producers and Canadian creative work, and in bringing that work to millions of viewers around the world.”