New shows make Netflix worthy
There’s an international menu catering for all tastes, writes Mpiletso Motumi
SERIES junkies will be pleased to know that the line-up of shows Netflix has in store for the rest of this year will keep them up most nights.
Earlier this month, the internet streaming service launched 10 new projects, seven of which are original series, to journalists at their third annual See What’s Next event.
The two-day launch was held in Rome, as all the shows unveiled were produced in European countries.
Netflix has made it a point to bring new voices to the entertainment service and localising stories to reach a broader audience. This means that more shows from the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) are in store for subscribers.
If you’re a Netflix beginner like me, you’ll be happy to know that it’s a pretty easy process to set up and pay for after your first free trial month. I’m just a few days into my trial, and am already waking up in the early hours of the morning to watch the first season of Lost in Space. The American sci-fi series is based on the 1965 series of the same name that follows the adventures of a family of space colonists whose spaceship malfunctions and leaves them lost in space.
At the launch, Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings spoke on the evolution of entertainment, and how we went from plays to motion pictures to television and now internet TV. All met with resistance at first, but were later embraced for their innovation.
“Drama and exploration is core to the human heart. With internet TV, you get the best possible video quality first, 4k ultra-high definition, Dolby Atmos sound, higher quality in your home than in most movie theatres around the world,” said Hastings.
More people are preferring to Netflix and chill at home, with a selection of their favourite movies, series, comedies and documentaries just a click away.
As the vice-president of Product, Todd Yellin, put it: Netflix is putting the right content in front of the right people at the right time.
“When we started our original effort, we launched our titles in seven languages. With the launch of Lost in Space, it came out with 26 languages, and when they come back in a couple of years, expect a much higher number. We keep on wanting to spread it, we keep on wanting to make this content accessible to whoever is going to enjoy it, no matter what the original language was.”
The consumer has a choice to watch series from around the world with either subtitles, dubs or the original language.
The shows that were unveiled last week were Mortel – a French series about teenagers bound together by a supernatural force; German production The Wave, based on the hit movie by the same name, Luna Nera; an Italian drama about women suspected of witchcraft in 17th century Italy,
Turn Up Charlie, a UK eight-part comedy starring Idris Elba; and
The English Game, another UK production written by Downton
Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. Spanish production La Casa
de Papel, also known as Money Heist, has been a success with audiences globally. It’s the most watched non-English series on the internet service.
Screenwriter Álex Pina brought to life eight criminal specialists to pull off a €2.4 billion heist, and in the third season new heists are set in motion.
Other new series that will be available on Netflix are Dogs of
Berlin, The Innocents, and young adult show Baby.
As 75% of Netflix’s 125-million audience subscribers stream in for documentaries, two new ones will have them glued to their screens.
One is called The Staircase and focuses on the story of Michael Peterson, a crime novelist accused of killing his wife after she was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home.
The docu-series is produced by Matthieu Belghiti and directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, who won an Oscar for his documentary Murder on a Sunday Morning.
The other documentary tells the story of one of the biggest cold cases in French history, the murder of 4-year-old Grégory Villemin in 1984.
“With over 100 European projects launching this year, we are committed to being a voice for European entertainment, giving passionate local content creators a worldwide platform to share their vision, and offering consumers unique and diverse stories they can discover and enjoy anywhere, any time and at the same time, no matter their place or language of origin. And this is just the beginning of our journey,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix.
I don’t know about you, but I’m sold.